While I found this particular article interesting, I disagreed with much of what was said. Though I agree that the concept of multitasking may be counter-productive at times - ("To do two things at once is to do neither" - Publilius Syrus), especially when you're trying to drive and look at pictures on your cell phone at the same time - in many cases multitasking is a great tool to utilize. Personally, I watch TV or listen to music while doing work because I feel that having something in the background helps me absorb information better, which goes against the claims from the UCLA experiment. Kirn claims that multitasking in the office setting is costing our economy $650 billion every year. However, he fails to note the benefits of multitasking, which, I would guess, sum to a total greater than the loss. Anyway, unlike Kirn, I believe that technological innovation that assists in multitasking is beneficial to the great majority of our country.
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I know what you mean. Intuitively we understand as well that we are all always multitasking--your heart is beating, blood is circulating, nerves are firing etc. etc. So what does it mean to isolate activities and claim they are multitasking while these aren't? Interesting avenue for research.
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