Monday, February 20, 2006

Both Sides Against the Middle

There’s an impressive Paul Saffo interview in the San Francisco Chronicle. Saffo’s a futurist, but don’t call him one (sensible thing to be touchy about, actually), has a blog he refuses to call a blog, and can probably filibuster about how a pencil is better than a PDA. Read the whole curmudgeonly thing. Excerpt:

Q: How does the speed of information and the way we obtain information impact our culture and politics?

A: As a global society we are performing a great experiment on ourselves. Half of the world population wants to race faster into the future. Go visit China and India. They're ready to go. And half of the world wants to drag us into the past. The problem is both sides have guns. I think there really is a reaction. A lot of people are saying enough is enough.

And my favorite:

Q: What else does technology force us to rethink?

A: Digital technology is the solvent leaching the glue out of all of our traditional institutions.