[peterbell_nyc]

It is, and that misses the point. Lets assume hand washing is an hour and contact time for washer dryer is 10 minutes. We have absolutely saved 50 minutes of labor. Unfortunately we all tend to fill that time up with extra things. Maybe we got a bigger house and have a lawn to mow. Maybe we're a two income household where the person doing the washing is also working, maybe we're checking email.

The point is that the majority of people make the choice not to leverage the time saved in additional pursuits but to cram more things into their week.

I certainly personally feel a little more frazzled than I believe I did at a time when the Internet was only accessible at big corporations and universities and when phones were (for most people) connected to wires in their houses and the only thing a watch could do was tell time and set alarms.

This is not (at least for me) a criticism of technology or innovation. I happen to be unreasonably obsessed with both. It does raise the traditional question of "what is a good life" and how can we be thoughtful about how we engage with technology to ensure that we replace drudgery with joy - not just more tasks, things and obligations.

[mfuzzey]

As you say yourself people make the CHOICE to ...

Before washing machines they didn't really have any choice but to wash their own clothes (except for a few very rich that had servants to do it).

The same is true of many things - a huge proportion of the population used to be involved in subsistence activities just to grow food, and raise animals for food. Of course we still have to eat but a far smaller proportion of the population is now required to do those things enabling society to persue other things (science, technology, arts, ...)

[peterbell_nyc]

Yup - I was intentional with my language for a reason. But when I see most everyone I know making those similar choices I have to wonder what's an appropriate way to frame and engage with technology in a way that makes our lives better match our goals and whether we're all going to have to get much better at that to avoid becoming "drowned in plenty" :)

[TRiG_Ireland]

The time is one aspect of it. Washing clothes is backbreaking work. Saving that is worth something, isn't it?