This is a fantastic review by Kevin Kelly of an article by Robert Gordon claiming that the 3rd industrial revolution, the whole computer thing, isn't actually a big deal, and didn't do much compared to the other two. The review pretty well eviscerates that claim I think, and is totally worth reading in its entirety. If you can't, here's my favorite segment
Generally any task that can be measured by the metrics of productivity -- output per hour -- is a task we want automation to do. In short, productivity is for robots. Humans excel at wasting time, experimenting, playing, creating, and exploring. None of these fare well under the scrutiny of productivity. That is why science and art are so hard to fund. But they are also the foundation of long-term growth. Yet our notions of jobs, of work, of the economy don't include a lot of space for wasting time, experimenting, playing, creating, and exploring.Seriously though, you want to read this. It is really quite an excellent monologue on how we as economists measure progress, and what progress even means.
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