Cell phones may have done more for international development than charity, but that's a great example of improving things by accident rather than by design. I

Cell phones may have done more for international development than charity, but that's a great example of improving things by accident rather than by design. I moved to the Bay Area to start a startup, before which I worked on international development issues, and having seen both sides of the coin, I totally agree with the author's views. It would be great if we could harness some of our technological expertise to engage directly with the world's problems, starting at the problems rather than our own individual itches. This is something I personally intend to do in the future, and I would love to engage with others that are interested in doing so too. In fact, a few years ago, my co-founder and I thought about doing something for-impact rather than for-profit, and we volunteered with Khan Academy (when they didn't have funding), but quickly found that you can't do a great job on something unless it's the main thing you're working on (PG's "top idea in your mind" concept totally applies). One great example of using technology for social change is SamaSource [http://samasource.org http://samasource.org] — I'm a huge fan of their work and the founder's politics.