Computers bring work home. Computers are suited for performing job-related activities away from the job site. This is the most insidious way a computer ruins our lives. With computers at home, with laptops, and with networks to connect computers to each other, a home, a bus, or a train, easily become secondary work places. Business travelers can work on their commute, or on trips, or at the beach.
People spend half their day at work surfing the Internet to do their shopping.
They write letters, read the news, or monitor their stocks. They play on-line games against people in Brussels. While all this may be true, it is a pale shadow of real leisure. It is a sketchy, furtive, underhanded leisure that is always threatened by exposure. A friend of mine pointed out that I have very little choice in the matter.