For the love of Tech

This is a cross post from http://www.studentnerds.com/blog/2008/12/for-love-of-tech.php

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If you read this blog, it won't come as a surprise to you that we here at Student Nerds love technology. We love how it changes lives and connects people, There's an innate “gadget” factor that I think we all buy-into, finding new devices that do old things better, as well as new things for the first time.

But Tech is more than just processors and touchscreens, uploading photo and gigabytes. Tech is a way of thinking, it is believing that if an old way of thinking doesn't work, or did, but doesn't anymore, then it's part of what makes us people to try and find a way that does.

Our country is faced with unparalleled challenges and pain, there's a fear out there that can be felt in many, and a sense of confusion and apprehension that can be felt by all.

We are not going to grow out of this by doing things the same way. The trust that we put into our regulators to monitor the financial services industry has been shown to be sorely misplaced. The refusal of Detroit to operate in any way but business as usual is frustrating. The fact is that those parts of our economy that we consider to be cornerstones have proven to be the weakest. It's a crisis of trust, and respect and of our priorities as Americans and people.

I'm not suggesting that iPhones and blackberrys are replacements for financial services and heavy manufacturing. Nor do I think that we can necessary invent our way of of this with nifty gadgets and toys.

But what I do believe is that it is a tech way of thinking that will allow us to build ourselves back up again. We need new ways to manageable our financial resources, and we can and will make the best cars again one day, cars that people get as excited over as they do their iPhones. And the future will look different than the past. It will need new skills and new talents, but fresh thinking and creative, innovative and inspiring people, armed with a Tech way of thinking can lead us into that future.

As scary as this time is, it's also exciting. I've referenced Joseph Schumpter in this blog before, and I will do again, as he talks about the forces of creative destruction. Only by tearing down the structures and processes of the old way of doing things, will the necessary will and energy be expended finding and inventing new ways. I think we all can agree that we've been through a uniquely destructive run over this past year. We've fallen off a pretty high tightrope that we were walking, but we're going to climb higher, and I'm excited to see the view.