It's hard to look toward an optimistic future when, at least from some perspectives, the optimistic future that was predicted decades ago didn't arrive, and in

It's hard to look toward an optimistic future when, at least from some perspectives, the optimistic future that was predicted decades ago didn't arrive, and in some ways the proliferation of computing has made things worse. The techno-utopianism expressed in Steven Levy's _Hackers_, for instance, seems quaintly naive now. It's easier to be optimistic in some areas, though. In my own field of accessibility, the rise of personal computers and digital communication has obviously done a lot of good, and I only wish it would go faster (e.g. no more paper).