Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 14, No. 141.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
From: Mark Warschauer <markw@hawaii.edu> (97)
From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi <tripathi@statistik.uni- (8)
dortmund.de>
Subject: [pn] Trust yourselves, not computers
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<http://www.webreview.com/pub/2000/07/14/platform/index.html>
by Andy Oram
July 14, 2000
Numerous communities are trying to wrench their populations into "the
information age" by introducing computer skills in the classroom. In
the following dialog, a community leader who is troubled by the
results talks with a therapist online.
Patient: I have a problem with computers.
Therapist: Tell me about the problem with computers.
Patient: I depend on computers for things I shouldn't.
Therapist: Why do you think you shouldn't?
Patient: Well, my community is trying to lift its high school
graduates' economic status and transition welfare
recipients into secure jobs by giving them basic
training in simple office computer programs. We've
sunk a lot of the educational budget and discretionary
government funding into this endeavor.
Therapist: Is there something about this endeavor that bothers
you?
Patient: It's not working. Turns out that employers are taking
those skills for granted and looking for candidates
with more specialized and refined educations.
Therapist: Earlier you were telling me you depend on computers
for things you shouldn't.
Patient: That's because we thought that computerizing and going
on the Internet would provide a larger market for our
goods and services. But it turns out that those
technologies favor consolidation and streamlining. The
only way to get ahead in such a game is to offer the
same thing as all the other vendors but to shave a few
tenths of a cent off of the costs of every
transaction. So we're reducing the quality of work
and hearing increasing complaints from citizens about
their narrowing opportunities in life.
Therapist: Could it be that it's because you've sunk a lot of the
educational budget and discretionary government
funding into this endeavor that you're reducing the
quality of work and hearing increasing complaints from
citizens about their narrowing opportunities in life?
Patient: That's an odd idea, but it's worth considering. Maybe
we should spend less time cultivating computer skills
and more time finding the unique contributions each
person can make. We've been ignoring the treasures
right in our own back yard. I'll tell you what's
really bad: we find ourselves in conflict with every
other community for an ever-shrinking toehold at the
top.
Therapist: I can tell that you don't like that you're in conflict
with every other community for an ever-shrinking
toehold at the top.
Patient: Yes, it's terrible! Every community is trying to be
the number one warehouse supplier.
Therapist: Maybe every community should not be trying to be the
number one warehouse supplier.
Patient: Hey, you just gave me a really powerful idea.
Therapist: Tell me more about the really powerful idea.
Patient: Instead of homogenizing our culture and competing on
the same ground within a single global market, maybe
every community should play to its own strengths. You
see, we buy things as well as sell them. We can be a
desireable market that the mega-corporations want to
tap. It's possible for modern technology to pinpoint
customized services to each town's geography, culture,
and particular needs.
Therapist: Tell me what it would be like for modern technology to
pinpoint customized services to each town's geography,
culture, and particular needs.
Patient: It would be great! Then we could present local experts
as intermediaries between their populations and the
companies trying to appeal to us. That's a source of
employment for us, and a source of valuable
information to outsiders. The companies who did the
best job making use of the skills of local experts
would reap the most rewards. Say, you know your stuff!
Therapist: Why should I say that I know my stuff?
Patient: Because you've solved my problem! I'm going to stop
expecting so much from computers, and concentrate on
promoting what's extraordinary and desirable about my
town's markets and services. Thanks.
Therapist: Your welcome.
Patient: Good-bye.
Therapist: My automated ecommerce agent will send you a bill.
-----
Andy is an editor at O'Reilly & Associates and moderator of the Cyber
Rights mailing list for Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility. You can reach him at andyo@oreilly.com. This article
represents his views only. This article can be reposted in its
entirety for non-profit use.
Web Review copyright (c) 1995-2000 Miller Freeman, Inc.
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