Solitude & Technology

Can it coexist? Are we truly alone if the world is at our fingertips? Neil Swidey penned - or typed, rather - an essay about that very idea.

the kids are online and alright

A new study finds the Internet isn't such a dangerous place after all:

Good news for worried parents: All those hours their teenagers spend socializing on the Internet are not a bad thing, according to a new study by the MacArthur Foundation.

“It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it’s on MySpace or sending instant messages,” said Mizuko Ito, lead researcher on the study, “Living and Learning With New Media.” “But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.”

The study, conducted from 2005 to last summer, describes new-media usage but does not measure its effects.

Wouldn't you be interested in a study measuring the effects?

proof that the "Terminator" movies were much closer to the truth than we thought

did you call this one?

iPhone is the invention of the year.