... with artefacts that carry a lot of embedded tools and information within them.
Not so long ago (15 years), a PC would carry mainly a set of very restrictive production tools. Today we have a plethora of installed tools (and gadgets) available in our computers, and an open door (internet access) of millions of other available for us to play with and/or install.
How does this affect PIM? How distracted are we? Does this explain, for example, the difficulties of reading an entire PDF on the computer without interrupting to:
- open another pdf
- find papers from the same author
- search database for (new concept found, .... ) before finishing the reading
- ... constant switching between reading pdf and other (available/competing) information
Are there gender differences in how these distractions affect PIM efforts? Do they have any relation to multitasking?
