It is always good to be reminded of what mobile can do, but also of what current technologies, especially paper, offer to those who cannot or make a choice not to be as technological:

…It is sometimes difficult for me to truly articulate my reaction to people saying that print is dead. I don’t want to be labeled a luddite, or anti-ebook; I love my computer, I love my smartphone, and I love the fact that I have the internet in my pocket. The existence of ebooks means that people who can’t store physical books can have more to read. It means that hard-to-find and out of print material is becoming accessible again. I means that people who have arthritis, or weak wrists, or other physical disabilities that make reading physical books difficult, can read again, without worrying about physical pain. I love that ebooks exist.

This doesn’t change the part where, every time a discussion of ebooks turns, seemingly inevitably, to “Print is dead, traditional publishing is dead, all smart authors should be bailing to the brave new electronic frontier,” what I hear, however unintentionally, is “Poor people don’t deserve to read.”…

Read the rest of this passionate and needed piece by Seanan McGuire.

What I appreciate about many of the people whom I’ve talked to over the years is that question of “why?” Why is this tech relevant in a world where people are struggling to have their basic needs met? I simply can respond that it’s an opportunity to those who have it to enable or empower themselves and the lives of others. Any tech should elevate the entire community, not just the privileged.

I am challenged after reading this to not forget that divides don’t speak towards unity of the faith (“men shall know you are Mine by the love you have for one another…”).