Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

Slashdot, in it’s standard inimical way, poopoos parents who opposed giving students laptops.

Schools giving away laptops are hardly new. It has been considered a good idea to give students laptops, to give them access to the wealth of resources available, learn about technology, learn to make … powerpoint presentations …

It turns out, a lot of students spend time playing things like World of Warcraft, or cruising the net, instead of using their laptops to actually learn something, like … powerpoint.

OK, I imagine you are getting my drift here. Does it make sense to give every student their own laptop? A while ago, it was about getting students ready for the new workplace (ugh), and bridging the digital divide (a laudable goal.) Now, in the US, for the most part the digital divide isn’t between the economic haves and have nots, but mostly between the technology want-ers and want-nots.

My suggestion? Something old. Computers in classrooms where they make sense, and in the library. Provide help to parents who really can’t afford to buy their kid a computer or a laptop. Leave it at that.

Blogs die, blogs come back, new, different, and informed by experience. I’ve lived a year without doing much technology work or being involved or engaged in the nonprofit technology field. I’ve lived a year thinking about spirituality and religion, reading sacred texts, and living and talking with people whose lives are centered around the divine, and the heart. I’ve lived a year knowing that the most important thing in my life is my connection to the divine/ultimate reality/my highest self. I’ve had a benefit of distance, as well as the benefit of a year of thinking about what’s really important to me in life, and what I think is important in the world as we are going to enter some difficult times.

So what is this blog going to be? Think of it as a place where you’ll hear hard questions asked, assumptions questioned and technology trends dissected. A place where technology is more about connecting people, than making work more efficient. Where technology is more about making our lives more interesting and creative, instead of making a buck. And, because of that, it will be a place where you’ll hear that it might just be better to sit in a room with people than send them email. Or it might be better to throw a fundraiser instead of putting a button on your website. Or better to get up out of our chair, instead of sitting in front of a screen. A place where the default is slowing down, not speeding up, Staying still, not upgrading, a place where less is more.

I’ve been an early adopter pretty much my whole life, and I have spent an inordinate amount of time in front of computer screens. And part of what you’ll hear here is me asking questions of myself. Why is it that I want X that new technology gadget with five gazillion cutting edge features?  Why is it that I read fifty gazillion blogs in a day? What does it add to my life? What does technology really add to my life?

I hope that it will provide, at least, some food for thought.