We’re All Makers

“I worry that modern Americans have lost both manual skills and
the curiosity to explore how things work. I probably worry too
much, but look how computers have progressed: from a text command
prompt, to all kinds of rich GUis, to smartphones and PDAs,
culminating in the iPad. The iPad doesn’t even use a keyboard, all
you do is grunt and point.

“That’s an exaggeration to be sure, because better tools are
always good things. Still, there are two words in common usage that
grate like fingernails on a blackboard: consume and consumer, and
the especially odious consuming content. Fifteen years ago grumpy
old geekbeards were muttering dark warnings about turning computers
into televisions, and here we are. All of these fabulous advances,
these wonderful high-tech power tools that make it possible for
individuals to create things that used to be just for well-funded
professionals, are being relentlessly pushed into functioning as
fancier TVs.”

Complete
Story