“Well kan Senec and many a philosophre / Biwaillen tyme more than gold in cofre, / ‘For loss of catel may revovered be, / But loss of tyme shendeth us,’ quod he.”
-Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (Man of Law’s Tale,lines 25-28)
With every passing hour, it seems, some task, great or small, which we had previously to accomplish by some independent or elaborate means is streamlined, minimized, and absorbed into some ostensibly beneficial and ecumenical instrument (the computer, the smartphone, even the automobile).
Hence, an imperfect illustration: the Swiss Army knife. Such an object combines many of the varied tools of the woodsman, workman, or tinkerer –– the functionality of scissors, knife, pliers, tweezers, etc. available in the form of a single implement. It seeks to save time by saving space and adding convenience.
