Sramana Mitra: America in general and Silicon Valley in particular used to be on the ball. It used to operate at Silicon speed, work really hard, and produce extremely interesting innovations. A hungry, driven work-ethic permeated the culture. Today, along with outsourcing and off-shoring, that superb work-ethic has also been shipped off to India and China. America suffers from Affluenza. True, but it is also an opportunity. Hey who else would have thought we would need a chair that massages your back while you soak your feet in hot water, waiting for pedicure. Inventions for an idle kind!
Utter nonsense. America is hardly the stereotypical lumbering giant. The general interconnectedness of our society has made it relatively easy to outsource and offshore to countries that have a less expensive labor force. Should this be confused with suffering from affluenza- hardly.
Mitra’s political rant is also quite silly…Bush fan or not, is he really to be blamed for this too?
Finally, iPod is successful for many reasons (portability, nice design, etc)- not one involves spoiled children…to conflate this is just trying to make an argument that doesn’t exist.
My guess is that the ‘affluenzahhhd’ kids that Mitra is referring to are the exception and not the rule. They are a relatively small lot, compared to the millions of kids who strive hard because they don’t have rich parents feeding them everything they need. Mitra fained concern for the kids by blanketing them all as lazy is a little insulting. She seems disturbed that those that can afford to be lazy, sometimes are. Wow, the sky is blue too.
Edutainment hasn’t taken off for a reason- they are distinct markets. MOST people are entertained when they can forget the world around them and relax. Education requires attention to detail and being alert. Both are valid markets- but rarely together.