I believe that's kind of a fallback position, that now that they've lost the battle against computers, 2nd-best is to try to figure out what to do with them. A

I believe that's kind of a fallback position, that now that they've lost the battle against computers, 2nd-best is to try to figure out what to do with them. At least as of a few years ago there was an active campaign to discourage the use of computers and especially the internet in haredi communities: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/rabbis-rage-against-net-abominations-1838204.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/rabbis-r.... According to that article, the Vizhnitzer Hasidim even threatened to expel any children whose homes had an internet connection at all from attending the community's schools. And there were some high profile stunts where rabbis smashed smartphones and similar. But now it does seem that they're moving towards being okay with computers as long as they don't include unrestricted internet access: http://forward.com/articles/184099/kosher-smart-phone-arrives-as-ultra-orthodox-tech/?p=all http://forward.com/articles/184099/kosher-smart-phone-arrive...