I appreciate the thought comments Nancy, and I agree.

I think one of the reasons that productivity sometimes has a negative tinge is owners of companies who took all of the productivity gains as profits rather than reducing hours, improving conditions, raising salaries, etc. with the productivity gains. I think the labor movement has been a critical counterbalance along with government, journalism, etc.

I also agree with your points with the computer. To me, this feels a little bit like Jevon's paradox. Often when the cost of something drops dramatically, the demand for it goes way up. So maybe in the past, knowledge workers shared executive assistants who used typewriters. Now, they might have to learn sometimes dozens of different tools and apps and stay up-to-date on all of them. Individually, these might have benefits, but somehow cumulatively, they could decrease productivity. Still processing this.