People bemoan a generation who grew up living life in front of screens, always connected to something or someone. Those people are wrong. The fact that we are all connected now is a blessing, not a curse, and we can solve many problems in the world as a result.
Not only is it an advantage you have; it’s a responsibility you carry.
Today, there are 54 wars and conflicts raging around the world. 1.5 billion people live on less than $1 a day, and hundreds of millions of children will go to bed hungry tonight. Nearly half the world’s people don’t live under democratic governments — the rights we all enjoy are a rarity, not a norm. And when it comes to the Internet, we think “everyone” is online. But only 1 billion people have smartphones, and only 2 billion have access to the web today. For most of the world, Internet cafes are like digital oases in technological deserts.
But in this century, there is a chance for change on the horizon. The spread of mobile phones and new forms of connectivity offers us the prospect of connecting every community in our lifetime.
When that happens, connectivity can revolutionize every aspect of society — politically, socially, economically. To connect the world is to free the world. So if we get this right, then we can fix all the other problems too …
Reminds me of what Eric Schmidt said at the 2012 Berkeley Commencement (link to follow)
Ignore the IPO noise for a moment: the criticisms, the estimates of earnings, and other buzz. These pale in comparison to Facebook’s largest achievement, which is worth putting into context.
Facebook has organized roughly 1 in 7 people on earth, or 900 million people.
They’ve built a design and…
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