Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 20:43:55 GMT
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Last-modified: Sat, 05 Feb 1994 03:28:24 GMT
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Wendell Berry on Good Technology
In an essay entitled Why I am not going to buy a computer,
social critic Wendell Berry proposed the following criteria for
distinguishing technology and tools that are good and useful from
those that are bad and harmful.
- The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
- It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces.
- It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better
than the one it replaces.
- It should use less energy than the one it replaces.
- If possible, it should use some form of solar energy,
such as that of the body.
- It should be repairable by a person of ordinary
intelligence, provided that he/she has the necessary tools.
- It should be purchasable and repairable as near home as
possible.
- It should come from a small, privately owned shop or
store that will take it back for maintainance and repair.
- It should not replace or disrupt anything good that
already exists, and this includes family and community relationships.
It is far from obvious that the World-Wide Web and related
paraphernalia of the Information Age should receive particularly high
marks on these criteria.
Much thanks to Paul Barton-Davis for actually typing this in, and
pointing me to the essay in the first place.