Technology and change of habits

An interesting comment thread in Slashdot, “Slashdot asks: do you (ever) shut down your computer?” provides some insight into how the way we use our devices has changed over time.

When, many years ago, I went from using PC to Mac, one of the things that caught my attention was that I no longer needed to shut down my computer, which now had sleep mode: when I went to bed or took the computer to work, I just closed the lid and reopened it when I wanted to use it again. Restarting it was something I did from time to time, for example if the memory was not freeing up properly, if there was an update to be installed, or just as a precaution before important conferences. The rest of the time, I just restart the program that consumes the most memory, usually the browser.

For years, the prerogative of arriving somewhere and starting work within a few seconds after opening the computer, while others had to wait for a tedious boot. For some time now, Windows 10 users no longer have to shut down their devices, and the same applies to the ubiquitous smartphone.

I usually keep several programs open on my computer, and some of them, such as the browser, with multiple tabs that would take me time to reopen and put in order from scratch, which means I tend to reduce the number of times I turn the computer off completely (and when I do, I use the browser to reopen the tabs in use from the previous session). I’m not even sure if turning devices off even saves electricity: many startup routines consume more electricity than is required to keep a device in sleep mode.

Have your routines changed? Do you turn off your computer or smartphone from time to time, or do you just keep it constantly in sleep mode?

(En espa?ol, aquí)