I was interviewed recently from Uruguay by Marco della Cava of USA Today for a cover story that appeared yesterday titled “Speeding Up the Mad Dash.” It’s a quick read and good food for thought:
If you’re reading these words, the chocolates and flowers are on their way. Because given the gazillion draws of modern life — the cellphone, the BlackBerry, the boss, the kids, the TiVo, the dog — it’s a small miracle this sentence has made it into your day.
Our fast society is only getting faster, putting inordinate demands on our time and prompting the people and companies that service our lives to come up with ways to help us reclaim some of it.
Don’t have time to read all those magazines you subscribe to?
Not a problem. A new website called Brijit offers one-paragraph summaries of even the most complex and deeply researched tomes. [2021 Ed. note: Brijit stopped its summary service in 2008.] “It’s like drinking from a fire hose these days,” says founder Jeremy Brosowsky. “There’s more good stuff than ever, but the problem is consuming it day to day”…
Is playing Monopoly akin to sitting through an endless symphony?
Monopoly Express now gets you and your top hat on and off Boardwalk in 20 minutes (Scrabble Express and Sorry! Express offer similar speedy promises). “People just have a lot more options for what to do with their time now,” says Rob Daviau, Hasbro senior game designer. “People still love board games, but TV, the Web, soccer games all cut in.”
Speed dating too slow? Speed Date.com dispatches with the in-person part of the encounter and sets strangers up for three-minute rounds of e-mailing or instant messaging. “We found that people think filling out long forms for most dating sites is too time-consuming,” says co-founder Dan Abelon. “Our goal is to get people together, but even faster than before.”
The sense that time is speeding up isn’t new… (Read the rest here)
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Related Reading:
10 Computer Shortcuts: Obvious to Techies but Unknown to the Rest [Be sure to see the great tips in the comments]
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour
New Year, New You: How to Travel the World with (or without) Kids in 2008