You remember it, don’t you? A paper plate with a fastener holding moving paper arms that rotated around the plate and pointed to your next familial task: mow the lawn, do the laundry, set the table. At our house, we got our allowances in return for doing what the wheel said. Some […]

A few weeks ago, I noted that KidThing, PBS Kids, and others were kicking off a new wave of new and promising websites for kids. Add a few more to the list: KidZui, a web browser and service, Handipoints, and ZooKazoo are three newcomers to the ever-expanding world of communities for young kids on the […]

Kids inevitably grow up to become adults. If adults are ill equipped to use the Internet safely, we’re going to suffer big-time in the world economy. Debate about who should be funding Internet safety education (hardware manufacturers, Congress, schools, the FBI, service providers) goes on and on. Some of the most aggressive education […]

If you’ve been watching Facebook over the years, you know that it’s not the same place it once was. First a haven for college kids with a .edu address, Facebook expanded its community in both directions. Upward to accommodate the working world (a Facebook network can be your place of business) and downward […]

Actually, it’s a movie, not an ode. Since gadgets have kept me duly employed for nearly 35 years, I thought I might spend a few moments reflecting on what gadgets mean to others. Sheer joy or bane of existence? Making life simpler or making it darn complicated? Defining personality or making all personalities identical?
With […]

And if so …. is it failing? I was asked to write an essay about my thoughts on this prompt for The Economist. I really wanted to ask them who in the world would say that technology was meant to simplify? And why haven’t they received their lobotomy yet?