All true, but the issue isn't really that they could improve algorithmic complexity with more technical skills, it's that they could improve their overall productivity.
There's a huge resistance to using source control, so lots of time gets spent searching through deep folder structures and finding just which 'file1_v3 (4).doc' is the right one. Data gets lost due to simple mistakes.
They spent 20 minutes coding the Runge-Kutta algorithm every time they need to run a numerical simulation without realizing or caring that (a) they could spend 25 minutes to create a function that they could reuse or (b) that the function already exists.
In short, the issue isn't computing time, it's researcher time. But the idea of spending some time now to save time later is so foreign because of the focus on getting the publication out as quick as possible.
There's a huge resistance to using source control, so lots of time gets spent searching through deep folder structures and finding just which 'file1_v3 (4).doc' is the right one. Data gets lost due to simple mistakes.
They spent 20 minutes coding the Runge-Kutta algorithm every time they need to run a numerical simulation without realizing or caring that (a) they could spend 25 minutes to create a function that they could reuse or (b) that the function already exists.
In short, the issue isn't computing time, it's researcher time. But the idea of spending some time now to save time later is so foreign because of the focus on getting the publication out as quick as possible.