I'm a colleague of Shelley's, loosely: I've been working in libraries since 2004, a fair amount of it in public service, and my first job was literally teaching

I'm a colleague of Shelley's, loosely: I've been working in libraries since 2004, a fair amount of it in public service, and my first job was literally teaching people basic technological skills in a public library. I don't think it's 'lacking empathy' to focus on whether or not the tactics or strategies my allies are using are likely to, you know, work. I would consider it more important that the letter be taken seriously and lead to actual change than people pat themselves on the back for their empathy in agreeing. It's because I have empathy for the people affected by this issue that I care more about effectiveness than the feelings of the people reading/writing the letter. > And she should not have to be familiar with the tech industry. The tech industry's job is to figure out what the users want, by understanding what they do. I mean, she's a librarian. I do expect people in our profession to be able to look at an issue, understand where our experience is lacking, and seek to either remedy it or find someone with complementary skills. For a librarian to run into a problem and not act to acquire relevant information is something I (as another librarian) am pretty comfortable judging as 'unwise'. > The tech industry's job is to figure out what the users want, by understanding what they do. The tech industry's job is to make money. > No no I hope not! I hope that engineers who possess some empathy will see a letter like this and feel their pain and feel compelled to do something for them. If someone feels nothing after reading this letter, they are lacking in empathy. I would like the world to be that way. It would be great. I would feel much more optimistic!