Hoe do machines make work easier if they still require the same amount of work?

Question

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Answer 1

Lifting a 2400 pound car one inch, lifting a 50 pound box 4 feet, and carrying a 1 pound box up 20 flights of stairs in a building where the floors are 10 feet apart are all the same amount of work (200 foot-pounds).  Are they equally "easy"?  Sometimes, less work is easier.

Also, some machines require work from something other than a human (usually a motor or an engine).  This makes things easier for the human who needs to get the work done, but harder for the human who needs to breath the polluted air later.

Answer 2

They make the time spent laboring shorter. Humans had to do all of the work before. Now they can just manage the machines which is not as backbreaking and a lot easier and faster than doing the actual work itself.