--- description: Technology has helped un-clutter the desks of today title: This is How Much Desks Have Changed in 30 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08021e7f7141eb7b/69875f2dcd6848ece7096e87/desk.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This is How Much Desks Have Changed in 30 Years by [Inigo del Castillo / Lost at E Minor](/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Inigo del Castillo / Lost at E Minor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 3:32 AM CUTPublished: Oct 8, 2014 3:31 PM CUT  DesignBoom by [Inigo del Castillo / Lost at E Minor](/author/lost-at-e-minor-zolton-zavos/) ## Inigo del Castillo / Lost at E Minor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 3:32 AM CUTPublished: Oct 8, 2014 3:31 PM CUT  _This_ [_article_](http://www.lostateminor.com/2014/10/07/much-desks-changed-just-30-years/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Lost at E Minor_](http://www.lostateminor.com/ "undefined")_. Find the_ [_original video_](http://bestreviews.com/#reviews "undefined") _at the Harvard Innovation Lab._ 30 years ago, work desks around the world were cluttered with calculators, encyclopedias, calendars, fax machines, corded phones, corkboards, and other vintage items. Fast-forward to 2014, you’ll see all of those things as apps on a smartphone. In the video below, a team at the [Harvard Innovation Lab](http://i-lab.harvard.edu/ "undefined") visualizes each item’s eventual transformation into an app and how technology has helped un-clutter our desks of today. “We wondered what it would be like to recreate the desktop from the 1980′s and then emulate its transformation through the computer age,” the team from Harvard Innovation Lab explains. “We wanted to illustrate how technology has changed our world, un-cluttering our desks and simplifying our lives. While gradual change from year to year is often hard to perceive, a longer snapshot gives us a much more dramatic view of the technological progression we have experienced.” [_Thanks to the producers of the video_](http://www.bestreviews.com/ "undefined")_._ (via [Design Boom](http://www.designboom.com/technology/evolution-desk-harvard-innovation-lab-09-30-2014/ "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3479342/desks-have-changed-in-30-years/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3479342/desks-have-changed-in-30-years/"},"headline":"This is How Much Desks Have Changed in 30 Years","datePublished":"2014-10-08T15:31:19.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T03:32:54.000Z","description":"Technology has helped un-clutter the desks of today","url":"https://time.com/3479342/desks-have-changed-in-30-years/","keywords":["Innovation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08021e7f7141eb7b/69875f2dcd6848ece7096e87/desk.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Inigo del Castillo / Lost at E Minor"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08021e7f7141eb7b/69875f2dcd6848ece7096e87/desk.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Desk","caption":"Desk","creditText":"DesignBoom","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3479342/desks-have-changed-in-30-years/","name":"This is How Much Desks Have Changed in 30 Years"}}]}] ```