Here's something we all already knew: People like to waste time on the internet while they're at work. It's possible that you're doing it right now. In a weird way, I am doing this very thing right now.
Remember the tribute to Pac-Man Google had up the other day? RescueTime, a company which produces productivity software, thinks they know about how much of the world's time was taken up by the delightful diversion the engineers at Google created. Based on data collected from 11,000 of their users, RescueTime has estimated approximately 4.82 million man-hours were wasted. Wow.
There's a breakdown of how they came to this conclusion on RescueTime's blog, which is a decent read. But that's a hell of a lot of time burnt on something so simple. Behold the power of the internet in its most raw form!
The Tragic Cost of Google Pac-Man – 4.82 million hours [RescueTime via PC World]
Conrad Zimmerman is Destructoid's News Editor and home to the busiest mustache in the gaming press. An amateur historian and pop culture fanatic, Conrad possesses a nearly limitless wealth of videogame factoids and a passion for the power of games to teach, inspire and entertain. He enjoys reading, writing and turning things which should be fun into work.
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Contest:
2:00 AM on 05.25.2010 | 
Why, what's that, RescueTime? You're "a software tool that allows businesses and individuals to understand exactly how they spend their time and attention-- and helps them spend it more effectively." Saints be praised! A solution is found! Doubtless the cost of your employee time-tracker programs will be a drop in the bucket compared to the $120,483,800 this yellow scourge has been calculated by your marketing department to have cost our precious economy! What a marvelous, unexpected coincidence! Thank you, productivity-software company, for bringing this national tragedy to light and saving us millions of projected dollars!
Maybe for your next trick, you can determine how bathroom use during work hours contributed to the financial collapse of 2008. I'm sure your findings will be relevant and unbiased and not at all connected to your new line of powerful constipants. Get to it, you noble defenders of the bottom line!
A world without slack.
Lmaooooooo
"so I guess it really ate up some time there :-)"
I see what you did there ;)
Was it built in Flash by the way or in another language? It seemed to work on PC's here at work with nothing really installed (bonus woo!)
Can't get in trouble for Google...lol
it appeared to be written all in JavaScript. they took out all the indentation, it looked a mess
Actually, I think the aggregate 'people chill out and put their stuff in perspective' effect could have much more far-reaching implications than however many widgets weren't packaged and emails weren't forwarded.
Point is, even if it's quote/unquote a productivity killer (by means of time spent doing other things) there are benefits to productivity in jobs which require creative thought, when the people in those fields take a little down time.
Also, what's the deal with dTunes? Are we pressing on?
Best regards, Katya, CEO of cd dvd burner download, ietd iscsi
Green Iguana