looking at a new computer

[MrRiplEy[H]]

All this debate about how fast a computer boots and shuts down reminds me of the story about an athlete training to be 1/100 second faster. How will he spend the time he spared? Arguments and calculations about the achieved working time have been published also in ICT professional magazines. I can't help wondering, would a minute a day really add productivity, although summed together for a lifelong career the saved minutes make days and weeks. I have a feeling that the daily minute saved makes most computers run idle one minute longer than they used to.

I can tell that the convenience of having a computer start in 1 second instead of waiting for 10 or more when you want to quickly check for something is a major issue in practise.

[Bizman]

I can tell that the convenience of having a computer start in 1 second instead of waiting for 10 or more when you want to quickly check for something is a major issue in practise.

I know, understand and have experienced the issue. Mostly it has happened to me when someone has called me outside my working hours, asking for advice. In my private life I can wait for ten seconds. Or two minutes, for that matter.

[BaldEagl]

All this debate about how fast a computer boots and shuts down reminds me of the story about an athlete training to be 1/100 second faster. How will he spend the time he spared? Arguments and calculations about the achieved working time have been published also in ICT professional magazines. I can't help wondering, would a minute a day really add productivity, although summed together for a lifelong career the saved minutes make days and weeks. I have a feeling that the daily minute saved makes most computers run idle one minute longer than they used to.

It's quite noticable in a large business organization.  Having spent time as a Director of MIS at one time in my career one of my objectives was to drive efficiency (i.e. the fewest keystrokes possible to intuitively complete a task, the fastest data response time, etc.).  Over the course of a year with hundreds or thousands of employees those micro savings add up.

I wish I was in a similar position in the company I'm in now (Fortune 500).  They keep going in the opposite direction, adding more clicks, extending password requirements, etc.  It takes me a full 15 minutes every morning to boot up and launch the applications I need to do my job.  With 10's of thousands of employees a mediocre efficiency expert would look like a genius in our organization.

[Bizman]

I fully understand your point, BaldEagle. IMO cutting seconds off the startup time is a different issue than sorting out unnecessary clicking. The former only happens once a day, before actually starting to work, the latter slows down the work flow. Good point anyway.