Re: value of time [was: system questions]

[turnbull@example.com (Stephen J. Turnbull)]

>>>>> "Kise" == Norihide Kise <s100234@example.com> writes:

    Kise> Ken,

    >> You mentioned previously that you don't mind something that is
    >> a bit slower as you have the time. Have you ever put a
    >> dollar-sign value on your time now or what you would like your
    >> time to be worth? By doing so, you might realize that by paying
    >> a bit more, you'll be saving quite a bit of time and the nicer
    >> system might just pay for itself?

I agree with Ken that time management is very important.  I can't see
P90 vs P75 as a crucial issue though.

Investing in a faster machine is generally far less relevant than
reconfiguring your current environment, I've found.  Eg, adding 4DOS
to my 386/33 with a 25ms HDD for $49 made a much bigger difference in
my performance than borrowing the next guy's 486/33 with a 17ms HDD
back in '91.  Switching to Linux + bash + Mule + (real) X on my
current (486/50MHz) system made a much bigger difference than moving
my former DOS + 4DOS + OEmacs + NEmacs + DESQview/X to a colleague's
(P66) system.  But these are time, not $$, investments.

Better algorithms (ie, buy software instead of free/shareware in some
cases) and well-tuned configuration is usually a better investment
than faster CPU or HDD.  (Just reviewing my .procmailrc and .fvwmrc
once a week or so and tweaking them makes a noticeable difference.)

On the other hand, getting hardware you don't already have (a CD-ROM
drive, eg) often makes a big difference.  And improved communications
capability (faster modem, getting linked to an Ethernet, etc) has
always paid for itself in my experience.  I think Jim T is probably
right about monitor real estate if you're using a windowing system.
 
    Kise> Maybe it might be true if your job is very crusial about
    Kise> time, such as stock brokers. However, I'm just a plain
    Kise> student and don't make much money, that's why I said I don't
    Kise> mind getting a bit shower machine (P-75). Please note: if I
    Kise> were not a student and had decent income, I would buy a
    Kise> powerful machine (P-100), but since I'm a poor student,
    Kise> somehow I have to compromise.

Has anybody done any benchmarks on human-relevant multitasking?  What
I mean is this.  The benchmarks say that the P90 is faster than the
P75.  OK.  But is it really worth doing that rather than buying extra
memory?  I rarely get upset about compile times and the like, even
when I'm building Linux or XFree86.  I just run it in the background
on my 2.5-year-old 486/50MHz.  So what if it takes a couple of hours?
Even when I'm developing software, and recompiling/relinking fairly
often, it's not a big deal with a makefile (if the rebuild takes more
than 30 seconds, I use the time to document the change I made, even if
it doesn't work---it's usually just as important to know what didn't
work).

But ... I often find myself using well over 32MB of virtual memory
when I've got Mule, Canna, Netscape, XFree86, the kernel, and maybe a
couple of XTerms running, as well as the HTTPd and so on.  My feeling
is that for a person who is using the machine for anything except
serious iterative math calculations (eg, raytracing graphics for your
billiards simulation :-), it is memory, not processor performance,
that is the bottleneck.
 
    >> You might want to check out some books (or tapes) on Time
    >> Management, for example Time Power by Charles Hobbes or 'self-
    >> improvement' type of books that focus on improving one's
    >> finances, like Charles Givens' 'SuperSelf' or 'Financial
    >> Self-Defense'.

    Kise> Sorry, I've never read any book on the subject. I know I
    Kise> should read books on the subject to optmize my use of time,
    Kise> but I'm too busy doing other things at school and at work.

The main thing as far as time management in my *personal* experience
is learning to say "No".  Especially when they say "it'll only take a
minute".  Faster computers are not very relevant unless you are doing
massive repetitive calculations (like the "rocket scientist" stock
analyst that Kise mentioned).

Once again, all this is IMHO.

-- 
                            Stephen J. Turnbull
Institute of Socio-Economic Planning                         Yaseppochi-Gumi
University of Tsukuba                      http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/
Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305 JAPAN                 turnbull@example.com