A rant on computers and cadence.

WhatIwantedtotalkaboutis

computers

and               their

profoundlyinhumanspeedofuse-it'snotthattheygoinhumanlyfastnecessarily-weexpectourtaskstobecompletedinstantly

but

whathappenswith  all     the             software           I've

everknownisthattheimmediatetasksyou'replacingonthecomputerareonlyonepartofthedemands
placedonthemachinessystems;theantivirussystemthepowermanagementsystemandfranklygodknowswhat
all

conspire to

createtheseburstsofnearinstantperformancecoupledwithstrangelullswhichhavenorelationtowhatI
Imightbedoingorthinking...andasaresultIfeelalternatelyrushedthenfrustratedinaclassic"hurryupandwait"
situation.Thisbleedsoverintomylifegenerally,andIfindmyselffeelingtheinternalpressurewhichseemstobe
referredtoas'paceoflife'-thisinternalpressure(maybethewordI'mlookingforis'stress')spikessuddenlyassoonasacomputerisswitchedon.

(I'm just listening to this program on Radio 4, about pace of life; ironically, I'm simultaneously writing a blog entry. 

It reminded me, though, to write the above, which is something I've been wanting to write about for a while now; the effect heavy computer use has on my perception of pace of life. Which, incidentally, is a very clumsy phrase for the feeling of internal pressure which I, personally, feel when I think of 'pace of life' - a perpetual driving force, an unease I feel when I'm sitting still. 'Pace of life' doesn't quite cut it, somehow; it feels a sufficiently important concept to have its own word. I bet there's a word for it in German, or French.)

Does anyone else feel this? I'd like to make a plea to OS programmers - investigate 'cadence' and please make an effort to make the actions your programs' users experience work at a more human speed. Let's face it, compared to computers we are pretty slow beings, and it seems to me that a truly elegant design would space out the things that people see with activities which the program undertakes, but the user doesn't see - and thus create a computer which works with a steady rhythm and cadence. This may just be my age talking, of course - I've notice even people only a few years younger than me seem to use their computers so much more quickly than I do. On the other hand, they do seem to miss when they try clicking icons, so maybe I just make them feel nervous. Does anyone else feel this, though? This high-stress feeling which coincides with the high-pitch, high-frequency whine of a computer fan? This lack of a human-sized cadence?