Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Ask not...

Author:Joshua Allen
Posted:9/9/2000; 10:32:02 PM
Topic:Ask not...
Msg #:21097
Prev/Next:21096 / 21098

"Ask not what the Internet can do for you, ask what you can do for the Internet"

This is a good aim, but I am afraid it is difficult to separate from the clamoring voices of those who claim to know what is good for the Internet. What is good for the Internet vs. what is misguided and actually harmful is so open to debate. As long as you do what you feel is best in your own heart, though, that's a start.

Hypothetically, though, why does it have to end at the Internet? An article by Rob Pike @ Bell Labs (http://freshmeat.net/news/2000/08/05/965534399.html) got me thinking -- the tech Industry has taken alot of the talent that would otherwise be working in other fields. We can't even find enough IQ to so the things that we are doing, and we are offering piles of money. So imagine how much worse it must be for sociology, ecology, and other fields. I think of the tech field as being like the Catholic church of yesterday: if there is a Thomas Aquinas alive today, he must work for some tech company. Maybe we should ask what we can do for anyone other than the Internet -- they are the ones that need it most :-)

-J




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