Isn't that how it should be? Who gives a shit if you know how to "use a computer"? They are fucking tools. No more. No less.

If anything, it is amazing how little you need to know to do really cool shit. Like, anybody can start a website using nothing but off the shelf tools... isn't that amazing? We live in amazing times. That 4khz proc is bullshit compared to it. "know how to use computers"... pshaw...

And here they are, posting on a supposed "tech site" for "nerds". Bunch of bloody old fuddie duddies.

Yeah, but this is slashdot... home of the luddite. Everything was perfect back in 1970 when computers were more useful, less bloated, and (clearly) more open.

The thing was probably, what, about 2khz? It had, what, 4086 bytes of ram?

Modern laptops have clock speeds of 2 gigs or more. They have dedicated video cards that push bazillions of pixels around. They have 16gb or more of memory. They also have onboard wifi and full fucking color, HD displays. What the fuck do you expect?

Besides, your metric is way wrong anyway. I'll bet you that from a "horsepower" to "battery life" comparison (say, clock speed to battery life), modern computers kick the shit out of that TRS-80. In no way is the TRS-80 competitive with modern laptops in terms of battery life. And hell, you should be comparing the kindle or something, which also kicks the ever living shit out of the TRS-80 *and* laptops *and* the ipad. Course, it can't do as much.. but it can do way more than the TRS-80 ever could.

And that 90% is different for every user. You might use all the charting in excel, I might use all the financial functions. You might use the templates in word, I might use the collaboration tools.

I used to take all kinds of notes during a lecture. Then I realized I never used them and worse, since my handwriting sucks it takes me forever to write them and I'd miss key points while scrawling things out.

My hunch is if you put a fancy electronic note taking device in front of me, I'd spend most of the time either:
a) fucking around trying to get the thing working
b) fucking around doing something other than listening to the lecture (checking email, checking the clock, checking... whatever).

Now days, I like to just listen--I find I gain a lot more when I do. That said, I feel very uncomfortable without a pencil in my hand and paper in front of me, even if I never use it. Of course, your milage may vary.

AMD might have made okay CPU's but their partners made junk. You simply can't buy quality motherboards for AMD. All of it seems to be low-end crap with weird flaws. Every AMD system I have put together I wound up regretting. Things would crash randomly, freeze randomly, or just act downright strange. With Intel-based systems, I rarely have this problem (though I always pair it with a boring, plain-vanilla intel motherboard).

Bottom line, I simply cannot recommend AMD-based systems. Sure it costs less, but you pay for it in frustration.

<blockquote>People used to do it the hard way, and guess what, it worked. Kids were taught discipline and self control and parents were held responsible.</blockquote>
People used to live without glasses too. Should people who can't see right suck it up and go without?

Your argument is exactly the same. ADHD affects me just as much as somebody who has horrid vision.

I think Tom Cruise and his scientologist buddies have about a few dozen or so accounts.

I skated by in my university too. It wasn't until I tried to grow my own business and manage my time that I was diagnosed and treated for ADHD. You see, no matter what the hell I did, I couldn't fucking start working on anything. I'd just sit there in front of the computer and screw around the whole day. It wasn't that I didn't *want* to work on things, it was that it was almost impossible to do because I lacked any kind of structure. Looking back, even with structure I had trouble in college. I wasn't as social or as assertive as I could be simply because I couldn't follow conversations that well. I may have wanted to follow the conversation, but I simply could not.

Bottom line is, dont fuck with this stuff. If you think you might have ADHD, you owe it to yourself to get a diagnosis one way or the other. If you have it, ignore the tom cruise scientologists who are getting moderated up on this forum. You have too much potential to piss it away on stuff that is out of your control. I sure wish I was diagnosed much earlier. I probably could have gone to a better school and gotten into better programs.

Meta: this topic is why we have anonymous posting. No way in hell am I going to post this under my normal account....

Pretty much the same boat as you. Was diagnosed about five years ago at the age of 26. Couldn't focus on starting my own company no matter how damn hard I tried. Never could get started.

Dont screw with this stuff folks, living untreated is a great way to waste your potential.