Sour grapes or computer envy?
Right now I’m kind of hating the media. I know that’s a sweeping statement and I apologize for being so general. A couple weeks ago I came across an article about a subject I posted in May; If I Were King, which was about education concepts. I highlighted the efforts of Nicholas Negroponte, the former MIT Media Lab director and founder of the One Laptop Per Child project.
Quickly (actually too quickly), huge amounts of disparaging news items and lots of opinions flooded the presses. Mostly about Negroponte’s efforts and his ineffectiveness in delivering the goods for the price that he named. They ranged from a “raised eyebrow” about his inability to make a quality laptop for under $100 (Ever try it?), to making the whole project out to be a complete failure. Finally, I came across a fare minded article written in the Boston Globe.
Progress is always saddled with resistance and hurdles and the people who write about it, in the media, are not the ones who must overcome. Often the visionary never even gets to see the results, (but they sure get the criticism) and seldom are they the ones that end up carrying the project to a point of flourishing. Yet they are the ones that start the process.
Q: How can you tell a leader?
A: He’s the one with the arrows in his back.
The One Laptop Per Child project seems to be going through one of these inevitable rough times. I for one am enjoying the view and learning about innovation and creative efforts as they persevere (Be assured that if they don’t, someone will. Probably by standing on their shoulders). Lets keep an eye on the concepts and see what we can learn about perseverance (never a popular topic in a time of war). In the end let the Project be it’s own judge.
Compare the V-22 Osprey. Time Magazine just trashed it in it’s article called A Flying Shame. Come on! I have high hope’s for this amazing aircraft. It might be many years, but the non-military applications are what will be really exciting. Like the “laptop problem” we are assaulted with a catchy title and a stated failure with no mention of the future other than doom (Brings back memories of global warming).
History is full of examples of enormous successes which look like failures at many (sometimes any) points along the way. Navigation, Medicine, Engineering, Politics….
Sounds like the Media is on a rampage of judge-it-now-pessimism. Guess they always have been.
I’m reading The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. Mostly, I love it. He details avenues to totally eliminate unnecessary outside information from the world the Media shows us. If things continue, I might just have to join him in his well-thought-out approach to eliminating negative media input.
Perhaps we all can take a lesson from HappyNews.com.
2 Responses to 'Sour grapes or computer envy?'
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on October 8th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Just finished The Four Hour Work Week. Great ideas for streamlining one’s life. Not reading the newspapers and watching TV news is certainly one way to save time and worry.
However, his suggestions for business only apply to a limited number of opportunities. Try doing chiropractic adjustments by computer. He seems to forget that some people actually love what they do for a living and would not want to cut back their involvement; only to make it it more efficient and effective in the time expended.
on October 9th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Jim,
You’ve got that right. How about flying a plane full of passengers. Personally, I wouldn’t feel safe if an automated voice said. “Captain Jim is in Rio, but a $9 a month auto-responder is taking over. Have a nice flight.”
Mr. Ferriss has written a very interesting and provocative book, however. He’s young and smart, but that’s no substitute for knowing Jesus. The book shows his wanting through his lame attempt at finding significance. Let’s pray for him…Imagine the outreach that talent could provide…The Four Hour Christian!