Hmmm, something tells me that I shouldn't wade into this discussion,
but what the heck.....it's a slow day and I've already been
productive enough. I'll deal with the larger screen part, as, to me,
having more desk space available is a no-brainer.
The original message from you, Tony, said "And I can't imagine a job
where a worker with a slightly bigger screen
would actually be more productive than one without, all other things
being equal." There was no mention of RAM, CPU, etc., in your first
message: that came later. But, let's assume you meant it. That leads
to two cases, as I see it:
'All other things being equal' to me implies that you have whatever
RAM, CPU, etc., you currently have (if talking about one individual
getting a bigger screen), or the same RAM, CPU, etc., as your
colleagues (if talking about more than one individual, all with the
same computer equipment).
So, let's take the second case first: where I work, we have standard
2 GB of RAM for all staff and students, and most of the CPUs are
within one small clock step of each other (2.4-2.6 GHz, same
processor release: we get pretty good discounts from Dell and we
upgrade everybody in a work unit at the same time), and all have LCD
monitors of the same size (19" widescreen). Note, we are not even
discussing the difference between CRT and LCD. One of our students
uses ArcGIS, so we got her a large screen (24" widescreen), so she
could have the current map being displayed at a decent size, as well
as have the various ArcGIS windows open on the side (if you use
ArcGIS, you know what I'm talking about, if you don't use ArcGIS,
you'll assume I'm blowing smoke and there's nothing I can do to
change your mind :) ). Her productivity has certainly gone up, not to
mention her mood. She smiles more often, she's not leaning forward
with her nose inches from the screen and frowning at it, straining
her neck muscles, etc. While the mood part may not be of much
importance to you, it certainly is to me: when I ask for something to
be done, it is received with a smile, not a grumpy look; it is done
faster; there are fewer mistakes in the work; she can position things
better on the map without having to continually enlarge it then
reduce it to see how it looks, etc. The best $700 investment I can
think of that I've made recently.
Now, let's look at the first case: I had a 24" monitor, and upgraded
to a 27". All other things on my computer are the same, including the
screen res. I do a lot of programming and report writing. Comparing
old and new code side-by-side, or being able to keep open the code,
debug and output windows open on the same screen are just two of the
things I do while programming. With more real estate and the same
font size (not pixel size which would simply enlarge the font on a
larger monitor with the same resolution as my old one, but same
readable size on screen), I see more of each window. Does this help
me? Sure! When writing technical reports, I often keep open the old
report (typically last year's) to see what the recommendations were
and did we meet them this time around while I'm writing the new one:
I don't have to swap between windows, so no need to use either the
mouse or Alt-tab, just glance over at the other report and write away
on the new one. Does this help me? Yup! (Yes, I could have last
year's printed version on my desktop, but that simply slows me down
because I have to glance from the screen to the desk, etc., while I'm
touch typing away.) When I look at graphs going into the reports,
keeping the old and the new side by side helps in comparing the two:
I don't have to print them out, yet can tell at a glance what the
differences are. When editing photos, I can keep the original in a
window on the side, while I can edit a copy and see the changes. Does
this help me? You bet! While all these can be done on a smaller
monitor, having a large one makes it much easier to spot subtle
differences in photo editing. Plus, I don't have to calibrate two
side by side monitors separately. I have to ask myself: what price to
the business for saving me eyestrain; what price to the business for
my ability to do things faster because of the larger monitor; what
price to the business that I feel valued? Certainly the price is much
smaller than my salary, but it is also much smaller than the extra
they would be paying me because it would take me longer to do the job
otherwise.
So, I'd say that just because *you* "can't imagine a job where a
worker with a slightly bigger screen would actually be more
productive than one without" doesn't mean that other people cannot
imagine it or actually experience it. Maybe you should let your
imagination roam freer than it has heretofore! Please don't take
refuge in the "slightly bigger screen" and that you meant the
difference between 19" and 20", or some such thing. Your response was
to Tom's "Replacing a 19-inch CRT with a 24-inch LCD ". I really
enjoy the fact that you carry the Windows flag very proudly in this
forum: it leads to good discussions. But, I think in this case, you
might need to re-imagine your answer. (I'm not holding my breath,
though: there's too much pollen around these days for that..... ;) )
Adil
At 02:24 PM 5/5/2008, you wrote:
Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 14:24:13 -0400
From: Tony B <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: LCD monitor question
I specifically said more RAM might help, which is what you need to
have multiple apps running at once. Go ahead and drop your RAM to
512mb and get two 50 inch screens. You will NOT be more productive.
I mostly do graphics. I have a macro that runs the 5 apps I need to do
this. I do NOT feel the need to be able to SEE any but ONE app at a
time. When I need to transfer files I use the taskbar. When I need to
switch apps I may also use alt-tab.
I suppose we could time the difference between how long it takes you
to click a window and work in it, compared to me alt-tabbing to it. I
doubt you save 10 seconds a day, if that much. And then there's my
point of liking many of these windows maximized, like Photoshop. In
that case, you're alt-tabbing also.
On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:52 PM, Snyder, Mark (IT Civ)
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> So, you reject why I find it more productive or am I 'whining' by
> claiming I often need more than one application window open at the same
> time? What do you do with a computer in your job?
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Mark Snyder
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