Has the creation of free time created work?

I am not sure when the idea of ‘free time’ actually originated.  I recall learning in grammar school how tools reduced the amount of time needed by early man to complete survival tasks.  If it took less time to build your shelter and hunt your food, then you had time to lay your head on a nice soft boulder and watch the clouds go by.

 It is now 2011 and think of all of the tools we have to create more free time.  This blog was authored and published on one of those tools, a computer.  Imagine how much time it would take to write and then distribute it without one.

 So, one must conclude that my computer, smart-phone, car, etc. have created so much ‘free time’ that I only need to work for a few minutes a day and then I can watch the cloud computing go by.

 Technology has created the direct opposite effect.  In my ‘free time’, as I watch TV I get emails on my phone – work finds me.  You can be anywhere and the tools of the day have you constantly connected. 

 So, free time has become time for more work.