Apparently, we violently agree. I wrote in the original message (see below):
"...The real problem of the Digital Divide isn't technology as much as it is use of technology in an appropriate manner which increases the quality of life. Giving a farmer in an obscure part of the world an internet connection isn't going to feed him or her..." Technology *is* just a tool, just like the stone axe. Yes, you are right that technology is defined by the creator. But nobody said that technology couldn't be changed to be used by others. Whose responsibility is it to change something? Let's say I build a car, and you like the car and purchase it from me. Does that keep you from modifying the car for your own needs? No, it certainly does not. The same with HTML. Why not lobby W3C about the English bias? I don't see anyone as powerless when it comes to these things. But I do see people making choices by failing to make choices. Humans have a history of adapting things to human need. Should modern technology be different? Wow. This is dangerously close to an analog for Free Software and Open Source. Actually, it's not even an analog. It is the same thing. If people CHOOSE to accept things as they are, there will be no change, and these people can blame whoever they want - but ultimately, if they DO nothing, then ultimately they are just as responsible as the people they blame. People need to take ownership of problems so that they can solve them. When they are in the process of solving them and require aid, then they deserve it. But if they are happy with the status quo, then they are doomed to the status quo. I forget which authors wrote that, but I think you can find it in any ancient book of philosophy. But then, we live in a world where there is a want for things at no cost. I recall speaking to someone who plays the Sims - a low income person. And this person told me that they used a cheat in the game which allows their 'people' to not have to work, and get money for nothing. This disturbed me profoundly at a very deep level - because that person is not working, and is on fixed income but constantly talks of moving away from it. Is it art imitating life, or life imitating art? I'm sure I don't know. But what's funny is that the person who doesn't take ownership of that person's problems also doesn't take ownership of her virtual people's problems, instead resorting to cheating. (It's not like I've never used game cheats. But I am less likely to now.) K Wong (UVic) wrote: >I'd have to take the side of Marshall McLuhan on your point that >"technology is just a tool." Technology is not just a tool. It is a >manifestation of a philosophy and a culture. McLuhan stated that media >technology, such as television, could not help but extend the culture >that created it. The same idea has been restated, refined and reinforced >by numerous other authors like Jerry Mander (cultural genocide by >technology) and Sherry Turkle (coined the term "epistemological >pluralism" to refer to the multiple ways of knowing). The following >paragraph is from McLuhan's 1964 book "Understanding Media": > >'In accepting an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame a few >years ago, General David Sarnoff made this statement: "We are too prone >to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those >who wield them. The products of modern science are not in themselves >good or bad; it is the way they are used that determines their value." >That is the voice of the current somnambulism. Suppose we were to say, >"Apple pie is in itself neither good nor bad; it is the way it is used >that determines its value." Or, "The smallpox virus is in itself neither >good nor bad; it is the way it is used that determines its value." >Again, "Firearms are in themselves neither good nor bad; it is the way >they are used that determines their value." That is, if the slugs reach >the right people firearms are good. If the TV tube fires the right >ammunition at the right people it is good. I am not being perverse. >There is simply nothing in the Sarnoff statement that will bear >scrutiny, for it ignores the nature of the medium, of any and all media, >in the true Narcissus style of one hypnotized by the amputation and >extension of his own being in a new technical form. General Sarnoff went >on to explain his attitude to the technology of print, saying that it >was true that print caused much trash to circulate, but it had also >disseminated the Bible and the thoughts of seers and philosophers. It >has never occurred to General Sarnoff that any technology could do >anything but add itself on to what we already are.' (p.11) > >It is no mistake nor is it a coincidence that HTML is written in English >(as is Java and just about every other machine language I have ever >seen). All technology carries the biases of the creator. I could go on >(and bore everyone to tears) but I will let it rest there. > >Kelvin Wong >Department of Computer Science >University of Victoria >Victoria, British Columbia, Canada > >My Blog on Aboriginal People and Technology >http://nativetech.blogspot.com/ > > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran >Rampersad >Sent: March 1, 2005 1:06 PM >To: Steve Eskow >Cc: The Digital Divide Network discussion group >Subject: Re: [DDN] Re: The digital divide and the idea of "public >computing" >... >Technology is just a tool. The real problem of the Digital Divide isn't >technology as much as it is use of technology in an appropriate manner >which increases the quality of life. Giving a farmer in an obscure part >of the world an internet connection isn't going to feed him or her. It's >the social interaction and imaginative use of technology that will help >that farmer to create a better way of life... > > >_______________________________________________ >DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list >DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org >http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide >To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE >in the body of the message. > > > -- Taran Rampersad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxgazette.com http://www.a42.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
