http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/Sterling1003.asp?p=0
Although this goes wide afield of IT issues, anything by Bruce Sterling is worth an eyeball. He here inveighs against a set of technologies he thinks we would all be better off without:
Nuclear Weapons
Coal-Based Power
The Internal-Combustion Engine
Incandescent Light Bulbs
Land Mines
Manned Spaceflight
Prisons
Cosmetic Implants
Lie Detectors
DVDs
I expect I disagree with him on the majority of these, which I suspect is highly salutary, though I do think him particularly on the mark in regard to prisons. I feel quite strongly we should punish people for their crimes, but there are lots of ways which are much less expensive, and more satisfying to contemplate, than the conventional prison system.
Posted by jho at October 2, 2003 12:24 PM