Anil Dash, tech blogger extraordinaire, put up a rather exceptional post on his blog this morning, lamenting the fact that a large segment of the geek (and non-geek world) will be riveted by Apple’s product announcement today, when the company is expected to unveil some sort of new tablet that will change the world.But, Dash argues, all the foaming at the mouth is misdirected. People, especially a lot of quite wealthy, well-connected people in Silicon Valley, could still be excited about a new product, while devoting their real energies towards actually making the world a better place. He argues that Apple is going to get a lot of free PR for this product no matter what, and that the tech-blogging community could spend a little more time giving PR to issues and causes that they care about but that fewer people are going ga-ga over:
My goal here isn’t to browbeat anybody, or to lecture. I’m in the same boat as everybody else who loves technology. But my personal reckoning has just shown me that a bunch of libertarian-leaning geeks in Silicon Valley who refuse to engage with government and civic society at all are never going to make an impact on most of the things that actually make a difference in our lives. Everybody in Silicon Valley will tell you they have a gay friend, but they couldn’t stop Prop 8 or get the hate crimes bill passed. Probably everybody at Apple thinks “We should do more to support the arts!” but they weren’t funding the NEA. There will be no iTrain.
It’s a pretty interesting and refreshing perspective (he also provides a nice list of Obama’s accomplishments, for those feeling that he has accomplished nothing). Will it change anything? It’s somehow doubtful, even though at the end of the day, having that new Apple tablet isn’t going to make you very happy while you are homeless because your health care bills bankrupt you.
