iSlate of the Union

Some big announcements today in tech and politics. Some related thoughts about the intersection of both:

Anil Dash on the folly of Apple tablet frenzy:

"Our current President is listening to what your requests are, and wants to hear them. Steve Jobs doesn't give a fuck about you. I promise. I'm typing this on an Apple keyboard hooked up to a MacBook, and I don't use Windows anymore, but I guarantee you that Steve Jobs is not going to get those last Marines out of Iraq [...] Apple will invest a lot more in saving any given book publisher than they ever will in saving civic society, in protecting individuals' rights, or in engaging in diplomacy to neutralize the threat of violent extremists."

And, I've been skeptical until now, but maybe joining a Facebook group does mean something after all. Check out Matthew Ingram talking to Steve Paikin about "slacktivism."



Justin Kownacki wrote a great post explaining that "you are what you choose to care about." I'd take take that one further - that perhaps now, you are what you choose to be seen to care about. Which would be unfortunate, because I think it leads to a lot of uninformed judgements about what people are really about. Most of the people I know who are excited about the iTabSlateBookWhathaveyou are equally passionate about "bigger" causes but don't always make the same amount of public noise about their views on them or the activities they engage in to promote them. It may not seem like it at times, but not everyone shares everything about their lives to everyone all the time. It takes more than a Facebook feed to know what a person is really about. For example: not everyone who donated to the Haiti relief efforts tweeted that fact, or even has a Twitter account. True, efforts like these can be amplified if more people know about them, but some things still happen behind the scenes, and the results don't count for any less because they're not being broadcast for all to see.