Today, air mail is snail mail, and I'm surprised I haven't heard any cell phones ringing out there. You don't know what Atari is, and you have never experienced life without answering machines, microwaves or VCRs. For this generation, Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are all places, not musical groups. Technology milestones pass by more and more quickly. Moore's Law, for example, tells us that semiconductor performance capabilities double every 18 months.
Software is out of date in half that time.
Third, by speeding everything up, we risk leaving more people behind. For those who are ready, eager, and given the chance to explore, technology provides more opportunities and more rewards. For those who are not included or not prepared, it leaves them in the dust, ill-equipped to function in a global economy. It is a sad fact that in the nation that created the Internet, less than forty percent of classrooms in the poorest schools have access to it, compared to over three fourths of the nation's wealthiest schools where this new world of opportunity is a mere mouse click away. In fact, for those Americans whose income is average, only twelve percent have access to the Internet.