I see participation in OT has declined, so I thought I'd say this: Computers and technology are not just technical matters. They bear heavily on social matters as well, and as time goes by the relevance and importance of the latter will exceed the former, perhaps more quickly than anyone realizes.
They can be the key for solving mankind's greatest problems - or the trap that ensnares us all and becomes our biggest problem. While we still have a choice, we - and especially we who understand - have a special obligation to guide the development of these resources so they do not become tools of controllers, but hope for the hopeless. Never before has a means to control people existed as it does today. Think about the dossier that already exists about you today, and then imagine what it will contain about your children as they grow up. I know from experience that my dossier contains a 35+ year old infraction that counts against me to this day. I also know that not a single good thing I've ever done have been recorded. I've saved people's lives; wouldn't you think that deserves a tiny mention? I'm also acutely aware of large systems and their memory/reach, having spent so much time working with them. PC-world conditioning doesn't really include long term archives and access to that data, so we don't think so much in these terms, but large IBM systems do, very much so. Put it this way: that dossier read to me by that Canadian border agent didn't come from a PC somewhere. So, to wrap this up, what I'd like to say is that our view of the world cannot be not merely technical, because if it we do regard it that way, then we are nothing more than modern day slaves building pyramids for the pharaohs. I think, believe, want to believe, that we're more important than that, and that somehow we can make a difference. Expecting the challenge "what are you doing?", I have applications in with several local colleges to teach courses part-time, and I'm out there every day now talking with local small businesses about their use of technology and how I can help them. Needless to say, when the opportunity arises to speak out about the social implications, I take it. We do care about the world around us, don't we? Bill _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
