He helps charities. She took no laptop, cell phone or pager. Free of her electronic leashes, she's windsurfing, rock climbing and learning to play the guitar. The crusade against the evils of technology is gaining advocates at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, the largest house of worship in Silicon Valley. Most of the 5,000 members of the congregation are employed in the high-tech industry or at nearby Stanford University, a hotbed for budding computer scientists and electrical engineers.
Ministers often preach about the dangers of high-tech greed and materialism.
The message is getting through. Some dot-commers in their 20s and 30s joined a churchwide program that donates thousands of computers to Third World charities. Now, they leave the laptops behind, and they really want a break from it all. I'm not against people making money. I just wish they'd take their technology and set up shop somewhere else.