3 ms·

Not everyone who criticizes technology is a luddite. There are some valid criticisms of technology as a waste of time and a diversion. This article doesn't gi

Not everyone who criticizes technology is a luddite. There are some valid criticisms of technology as a waste of time and a diversion. This article doesn't give enough context to the quote before diving in and passing judgment on Obama.

_delirium 16y ago
Yeah, this feels like a subject that needs a few pages, even for a short, journalistic take on the subject, and this article treats it pretty flippantly in half a page, which doesn't add a whole lot to the debate. (And I even like The Economist; it's the only dead-tree periodical I subscribe to.)
jpdbaugh 16y ago
Exactly. I for one, and probably many others on this site, hate social networking. I really believe it dumbs down human interaction and that the South Park episode on it really summed up the issue. However, I do write code for a living so I am far from a luddite.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- rbanffy 16y ago
  Social networks are not completely useless - Twitter, Facebook (and here in Brazil, Orkut) are useful tools to find old friends you lost contact with or to start conversations and point to interesting things you find. I get many tips from the hacker news popular feed. But I really, really don't care for the farms people manage, the hearts people get and so on. I don't need a second job managing a farm.
  - jpdbaugh 16y ago
    I do think that Twitter is useful for self branding. Especially if you are famous. For me though, friends are old friends for a reason. If I still want to talk to someone I have their contact information.
pyre 16y ago
> Not everyone who criticizes technology is a luddite. I think that issue is denouncing something, while at the same time admitting that you know nothing about it. It makes you sound as if you are just resistant to change because it's different and new. Granted, the Obama quote is taken out of context, but leaving the quote out of context, this is the issue that people are arguing over. Not necessarily that any criticism of technology makes someone a Luddite.
- pwhelan 16y ago
  I don't know if that is fair though. One doesn't have to know how a microwave works to see how it changed cooking that much. [EDIT] -- I had another point to go along with this but boss came by and I forgot it. It was a good one though.

_delirium 16y ago

Yeah, this feels like a subject that needs a few pages, even for a short, journalistic take on the subject, and this article treats it pretty flippantly in half a page, which doesn't add a whole lot to the debate. (And I even like The Economist; it's the only dead-tree periodical I subscribe to.)

jpdbaugh 16y ago

Exactly. I for one, and probably many others on this site, hate social networking. I really believe it dumbs down human interaction and that the South Park episode on it really summed up the issue. However, I do write code for a living so I am far from a luddite.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
rbanffy 16y ago
Social networks are not completely useless - Twitter, Facebook (and here in Brazil, Orkut) are useful tools to find old friends you lost contact with or to start conversations and point to interesting things you find. I get many tips from the hacker news popular feed. But I really, really don't care for the farms people manage, the hearts people get and so on. I don't need a second job managing a farm.
- jpdbaugh 16y ago
  I do think that Twitter is useful for self branding. Especially if you are famous. For me though, friends are old friends for a reason. If I still want to talk to someone I have their contact information.

pyre 16y ago

> Not everyone who criticizes technology is a luddite. I think that issue is denouncing something, while at the same time admitting that you know nothing about it. It makes you sound as if you are just resistant to change because it's different and new. Granted, the Obama quote is taken out of context, but leaving the quote out of context, this is the issue that people are arguing over. Not necessarily that any criticism of technology makes someone a Luddite.

pwhelan 16y ago
I don't know if that is fair though. One doesn't have to know how a microwave works to see how it changed cooking that much. [EDIT] -- I had another point to go along with this but boss came by and I forgot it. It was a good one though.