# What do you use your computer for?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 22, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800 "2020-01-22T14:15:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CastletonSnob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/1 "2020-01-22T14:15:50Z")
What do you use your computer for? Gaming or just to go online?
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/2 "2020-01-22T14:31:48Z")
Editing sound, editing video, creating and editing written material (text, books, posts, papers, short stories, whatever), managing finances, managing and deploying promotional activities (database of contacts and their email addresses, tables of outbound email bodies with merge codes, and scripts to sent outbound emails to the selected hordes at the click of a button); editing photographs, creating and editing other visual / graphic images; managing and viewing images; managing and listening to music (database of MP3 files, playlists, albums, artists, etc, with the ability to play the selected track etc); ripping CDs of course; ripping DVDs too for that matter; designing databases (that should be obvious by now); going online, as you say, in a web browser in order to participate in the Straight Dope, and in Facebook discussion groups, and in discussions and exchanges on other forums and online environments; shopping online; doing research online (such as finding the beforementioned email addresses on the web sites of various institutions); making medical appointments, booking travel, paying bills, etc; also online but not in a browser = fetching and sending emails; FTP’ing the files that constitute my web sites to their online server locations; remoting in to other computers either to move files to and from or to remotely control them (either to run software they have that I don’t, to fix problems they’re having, or sometimes just to offload a task to them so my own computer won’t be tied up). In a similar vein, running virtual machines on my own computer (again for the sake of runnning software the my native environment doesn’t have or can’t run). Printing documents. Burning CDs. Burning DVDs.
Not much of a gamer.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/3 "2020-01-22T14:32:02Z")
No gaming.
Go Online.
Read ebooks, listen to music, watch video I have downloaded.
Run business software, such as database of business inventory.
Do taxes.
Word editing.
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### Author:  [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/4 "2020-01-22T14:36:09Z")
going online, haven’t played a video game since about 1984, for a quarter, in an arcade.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/5 "2020-01-22T14:43:46Z")
Going online (which in itself includes multiple categories, from checking email to shopping to reading Facebook to reading the SDMB); work; watching DVDs and streaming video; playing music; playing casual games; record-keeping; writing; programming.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/6 "2020-01-22T14:51:57Z")
Telling strangers on the internet they are wrong.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/7 "2020-01-22T14:59:54Z")
Going online, which includes getting news, social media, SMDB, research, coursework, messaging friends and family etc.
Writing
Programming
Genealogy
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/8 "2020-01-22T15:06:58Z")
Primarily web stuff (reading, bills/banking, email, all the usual crap), gaming and chatting via Discord. To a lesser extent, storing some music & pictures, doing my taxes once a year and other incidental tasks. I watch short videos on it but almost never watch full length movies on it. Don’t do much writing and no real programming. Couple times a year I might bring work home from the office that I do on it.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/9 "2020-01-22T15:18:43Z")
No gaming
In no particular order
Book hotels and flights, NFL, MLB and theater tickets
Restaurant reservations
Schedule haircut, car maintenance, etc
Online banking (bill pay and transfers predominantly)
Research random questions that pop up or things I need to know
SDMB
Email
Other than that, work and porn
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### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/10 "2020-01-22T15:28:37Z")
No gaming. I’ve never once found a video game that interested me.
Online stuff, banking, ordering, etc.
News, weblogs, SDMB, and hobby specific sites.
A few youtube creators (Lemmino, etc.)
Occasionally for programming/designing when I need something not available online, and choose to 3D print it (Openscad, Freecad).
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/11 "2020-01-22T15:33:44Z")
porn
porn
porn
porn
porn
checking to see if there is more porn
porn
I kid, I kid.
Work. I’m a teacher so I create teaching material, make homework, tests. etc.
Email.
skype with my mother
chat with friends
read news
looks up information
waste time
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/12 "2020-01-22T15:37:34Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> Editing sound, editing video, creating and editing written material (text, books, posts, papers, short stories, whatever), managing finances, managing and deploying promotional activities (database of contacts and their email addresses, tables of outbound email bodies with merge codes, and scripts to sent outbound emails to the selected hordes at the click of a button); editing photographs, creating and editing other visual / graphic images; managing and viewing images; managing and listening to music (database of MP3 files, playlists, albums, artists, etc, with the ability to play the selected track etc); ripping CDs of course; ripping DVDs too for that matter; designing databases (that should be obvious by now); going online, as you say, in a web browser in order to participate in the Straight Dope, and in Facebook discussion groups, and in discussions and exchanges on other forums and online environments; shopping online; doing research online (such as finding the beforementioned email addresses on the web sites of various institutions); making medical appointments, booking travel, paying bills, etc; also online but not in a browser = fetching and sending emails; FTP’ing the files that constitute my web sites to their online server locations; remoting in to other computers either to move files to and from or to remotely control them (either to run software they have that I don’t, to fix problems they’re having, or sometimes just to offload a task to them so my own computer won’t be tied up). In a similar vein, running virtual machines on my own computer (again for the sake of runnning software the my native environment doesn’t have or can’t run). Printing documents. Burning CDs. Burning DVDs.
>
> Not much of a gamer.
Pretty much ditto.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/13 "2020-01-22T15:41:01Z")
Look at cat pictures. (:))
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/14 "2020-01-22T15:56:47Z")
Used to game a lot in the late 90s and early 2000s, but gave it up because my wrists were starting to suffer, since I also spend a good part of my day job at a computer.
So, these days:
Email
Web browsing (this can include social media, hunting down info, YouTube, etc.)
Online shopping
Managing a small side business I have (recording sales, printing shipping labels, tracking expenses, etc.)
CAD drawings (for business and hobby)
Spreadsheets (for personal finance, intellectual curiosity, etc.)
Income tax return prep
Occasional Skype call with someone
Curating/viewing photo collection (I scanned my print photos about 20 years ago after buying my first digital camera)
Curating MP3 collection
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### Author:  [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/15 "2020-01-22T16:20:59Z")
Are you talking about just a desktop PC or computers in general? My desktop PC gets used for mostly gaming sometimes browsing, including things like social media, forums, online shopping, and checking for stuff to do. My notebook is what I usually use for browsing, especially things like forums, since I can just take it wherever I am. I also have a tablet that I often keep handy to watch youtube etc. while I game (I don’t have to monitors) or to keep a guide/info/recipe up while I’m doing something. And my smart phone is what I most often use for looking up locations and messaging people, plus various browsing while I’m away from home.
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/16 "2020-01-22T16:31:11Z")
Gaming, research, finance, most shopping aside from food, browsing/reading sites like SDMB and Reddit, videos, music, business, taxes.
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### Author:  [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/17 "2020-01-22T16:47:40Z")
80 percent browsing, 20 percent flight simming ( WW2 )
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/18 "2020-01-22T17:00:47Z")
Email, TSD, Votemaster, occasional shopping, Win 7 games, typing and editing math papers.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/19 "2020-01-22T17:13:19Z")
Email
Writing, both my column (due this week) and my novel
I’m the web master for a local writers’ group, so I spend some time maintaining the site.
During conference time, I send out tons of emails about it using Constant Contact. I also do some web page maintenance and some tweeting.
Making doctor’s appointments and looking up test results, more and more these days.
Listening to a few podcasts
Maintaining my database of my sf books and magazines
Very little gaming. No multiplayer games at all.
And the usual stuff like looking up menus and store locations. When I go I use my phone, but my computer screen is a lot bigger and easier to read.
And heading for 50K SDMB posts, naturally.
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### Author:  [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-use-your-computer-for/846800/20 "2020-01-22T18:02:31Z")
I only use my laptop for paying bills and remotely connecting to work for the few days a month I work at home. I use my iPad contstantly, for checking FB, this board, looking up random questions via Google, email.
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