Yes it is wasteful, we are on the same page there. I just think we have a tendency to focus on isolated examples when the big picture is bigger than we can all

Yes it is wasteful, we are on the same page there. I just think we have a tendency to focus on isolated examples when the big picture is bigger than we can all really get our heads around. Christmas is a perfect example, I'd wager a great deal of netbooks will be brought this Christmas that are never used or only used sparingly. Schools force one on every student even if they already have perfectly good laptops (my sister's school has done this). Our society has all the basic metrics wrong of what is productive and efficient.