Originally posted on January 16, 2012 at 10:00AM at ProfHacker, http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/avoiding-tool-takeover/37948
While attending the MLA Convention in Seattle, I had an interesting discussion with fellow ProfHacker Brian Croxall. We were talking about the many tools we’d each recommended in ProfHacker posts that the other had not found the time to try out. We agreed that we’d never be able to try out all ProfHacker recommendations and still maintain careers and families.
If you’re a regular reader of ProfHacker, this may be a familiar quandary: so many interesting tech tools, so little time.
Henry David Thoreau famously worried that “men have become the tools of their tools,” and I think his warning is a prescient one. I like gadgets and software—hence my presence here—but I want to use gadgets and software that will help me do things I already wanted to do—but better, or more efficiently, or with more impact. It can be tough to make these distinctions and discern when a new product solves only the problem it created.
How do you evaluate new gadgets or software? How long do you test something out before deciding whether its worth a longer investment, either of your time or your money? Perhaps more compelling—how do you decide what to ignore? Tell us about your decision-making process for new tech in the comments.
[Creative Commons licensed photo by Flickr user Ktow.]
from ProfHacker http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/avoiding-tool-takeover/37948
