[iDC] One Laptop Per Child - MIT/Negroponte Initiative

[Sam Ladner]

Steve, with respect, I heartily disagree with your arguments.

Regarding the telephone, there was great concern when it was launched that
women were using it "inappropriately," that is, for social reasons. In fact,
the switches were designed specifically NOT to encourage social use. The
fact that your grandmother and her friends used the party line in this
unintended way does not demonstrate the neutral nature of technology. It
demonstrates their co-opting of a male design.

And while your daughter may perceive technology to be "neuter," as you say,
well, she's quite simply wrong. Technology is not neutral at all. There are
judgment calls made at each step of the design process, which are based on
normative values. Should we have a switching system that allows for long,
meandering conversations? Or should we have an "efficient" switching system
intended for short, direct contact? This is not a neutral choice.

I could go on, of course....the famous overpasses in New York state that
disallowed buses (filled with poor, mostly black people) to make it to
beaches (not a mistake, btw); the nuclear power stations that require
round-the-clock guards instead of decentralized wind turbines on people's
individual properties, the QWERTY keyboard designed to be more "efficient,"
etc....there are countless examples.

The "don't like technology, so don't use it" argument underestimates the
constraining forces we all face in "choice." Should I "choose" not to use
email, I face repercussions. Should I "choose" not to use a computer, I also
face repercussions. And we also know that girls and women in many countries
have very little "choice" at all.

How might a laptop change that? Well she could start emailing new friends in
Scandinavia for example, who tell her she can and should go to school and
not be married against her will. Okay, could happen. But chances are, the
social context in which she is embedded will more likely see her brother
steal her laptop from her and use it for his more "important" activities.

Technology cannot be separated from the social. Anyone who says it can has a
vested interest in its effects.

On Dec 31, 2007 1:12 AM, Steve Borsch <steve at iconnectdots.com> wrote:

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