Wikipedia turns 10

Wikipedia is 10 years ago today, and though some criticize the site for inaccuracies, there was a study that showed the site to be roughly on par with Encyclopedia Britannica, the industry standard for many years. Few today would think of plopping down dollars to buy a huge set of books when the all of that information and more is available on the Internet.

I've written the first drafts for about a dozen articles on Wikipedia, but the nature of the site means that all of them have been revised and extended since I first introduced the topics. I'm most proud, of course, of the entry I wrote on East Boston. It's much longer now than when I first broached the subject in the fall of 2003, but I will forever be the person who was there first.

I refer to Wikipedia almost every day, often several times a day. It's good for a quick check of some bit of information or as a starting point for research. It seems like one of the natural uses of the Web and it often forces me to ask the question, What did I do before the Internet?

The revolution will be texted

While we in the US are debating the negative physical and emotional effects of text messaging and Internet-based social-networking sites, these modes of communication just may be the unstoppable weapons that help people break free of oppressive governments around the world.

I personally have Luddite tendencies (at least philosophically; practically speaking, my refusal to get an iPod is a rather weak line in the sand) and I join the chorus of those decrying the ubiquity of young people constantly texting (even while behind the wheel) or of the seeming foolishness of following anyone's every move on Twitter. However, this week's upheaval in Iran over the apparently stolen presidential election seems to be fueled by high-tech communication, despite the emabttled government's attempts to cut off those connections.

In China, where the totalitarian regime succeeded recently in keeping public demonstrations to a minimum during the days that marked the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre (to end mass public gatherings that happened without the help of texting or the Internet), modern communication resources are used to spread stories of the corruption of local government officials. The Communist Party's massive efforts at controlling information is less than perfect.

So it seems that our rapidly developing communication technologies have a big upside for those who have lived under the cloak of oppressive governments, and it appears to be just a matter of time before newer and less-controllable modes of information-spreading completely tip the balance. In this regard these devices are the printing presses of the 21st Century, and I'll try to remember that the next time someone talking on a cell phone almost runs me over.

I text, therefore I am?

In recent years I've thought quite a bit about the role that technology plays in our world, and I've concluded that the result is an overall negative. Now, before going on, I will admit to owning (computer, car, cell phone, television, air conditioner, etc.) and using as much modern technology as anybody. I am a product of my society. However, the broader point is that I firmly believe that much of the stuff invented since the industrial revolution has put our species on a course for destroying the fabric of our society and eventually our entire ecosystem (though the planet itself will survive us and continue on in some new iteration).

The latest evidence of this is the way that texting has overtaken people's lives -- especially the young. A New York Times article from today talks about some of the social effects of constantly texting, reporting that the average American teen now sends and receives more than 2.000 text messages a month, while for some we're talking 10,000+. They're all going to be unable to use their thumbs in 10 years. I've met 20-somethings at social affairs who could barely look up when introduced to a group and then sat down and texted the rest of the evening. Then, of course, there are those who text and drive -- whether cars or MBTA trolleys.

Technology advances without society pausing to discuss the consequences of the next big thing. Automobiles changed the way we live our lives followed by television and then the Internet. Sure, one can make a case about some of the positives that those items brought to our society -- as have cell phones, microwave ovens, AC, elevators, and on and on -- but the unraveling of the family, the village, the community and the culture that these "advances" have precipitated is disturbing and, I believe, irrevocable.

The text and subtext

We would all agree that anything that requires some of our attention while driving would more than likely slow our reaction time, but most of us have probably eaten and talked on our cell phones while behind the wheel. With the rise of text messaging, this new task is becoming a major distraction -- especially for young people, who are most in tune to that technology AND are the most accident-prone drivers.

In upstate New York, five girls -- all recent graduates from the same high school -- died in a head-on collision in late June. Records show that someone was texting from the driver's phone right before the accident -- probably the driver herself. Meanwhile, in Britain, a 19-year-old is going to prison for killing a woman in a car crash. The teen sent nine text messages during the course of her 15-minute drive.

I think we should remind ourselves -- and parents should remind their children -- that being in control of an object that weighs a ton or two and is moving 30, 40 or 55 miles an hour puts in our hands the lives of anyone who comes across our path or even near our vehicle. No one's life is worth a text message.