Technology and Values

* Many people in this country have been preoccupied with technology and the great advances that we are achieving. From the space program to cars to personal computers, things are really changing fast.

However, if you really look at what has come forth in the past 30 years, it has not been a time of unexpected achievement but persistent disappointment. We have not really created anything new in the past 30 years, just made improvements in the things we already had.

Computers are way overrated. We should not measure our technology by how fast things are but by how they help us have a better life. Many businesses are spending millions of dollars on computers only to have to update them a few years later.

The real tragedy with computers is what they are doing to our children. It seems as though kids know how to use a computer and press spell-check but they don’t know the difference between a noun and a verb. Politicians are fighting to put computers in classrooms and are not teaching our kids to read and write.

Technology is changing and we need to move forward, but let’s not forget our values.

BRIAN TANDE

Simi Valley