I grew up in the era of the Peace Corps, with images of college students' deferring careers to bring rice porridge and literacy to remote corners of the developing world. Indeed, there is a broad digital divide between the world's technology haves and have-nots, and we have a responsibility to bridge it. In that context, Anan's words were apropos. Still, something gnawed away at me, and after some reflection I realized what it was.
Technology is an imperfect gift.
It neither sustains like rice nor enlightens like literature. The semiconductor fire that sparks our 20th century inventions is not a necessity for the life of the body or of the soul. No one needs a TV, a fax machine or an Internet connection at Ethernet speeds, comforting as those items may be to have around. I recall the old communes I saw through the windows of the train to Guangzhou and the slums I passed as I walked through the streets of Manila. I doubt their inhabits would have benefited much from my laptop with its 56k modem.