In case you missed President Obama’s remarks about our beloved gadgets this weekend to the 2010 graduates of Hampton University in Virginia, here’s what he said:
“And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation…. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy.”
We know he’s right. Silicon Valley and the world’s other tech hubs have made the way we get information (and oftentimes misinformation) fun. But where are the tools that will help these college grads, younger students and us out there in the workforce (or beyond) manage what we receive, retain what’s needed, circulate what’s useful and dismiss in a timely fashion what’s not? That truly is a challenge for this decade and Web 3.0.
Source: Washington Post
Kathy Drasky regularly writes about online culture. Her marketing and communications work with the ANZA Technology Network, Advance Global Australians and with various Australians and Australian enterprises has led to at least a dozen trips Down Under.
An accomplished digital photographer, her photos have appeared in 7×7 Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Google Schmap.
