I really love this piece because it shows the middle ground between unqualified exuberance and alarmist rejection when it comes to digital technologies.
In the person of Patrick Stewart we have someone who has lived a life of letters, of deep cultural and intellectual engagement, embracing technologies that he feels add value to his life and rejecting others.
It reminds me of my adviser at Stanford, Dr. Robert McGinn, who is very deliberate, and reminds us to be deliberate, in assessing how technologies impacted the fiber, the essential character of our lived experience, and choosing ones that he feels provide a sum benefit.
I remember walking into McGinn’s office a few months ago and he was watching a live stream of his favorite symphony orchestra (apparently they provide a subscription service for online viewers) and that epitomized for me what it means to make conscious choices around technology that enhance the fiber of your life.
