The Luddites

Thursday I had a chance to meet up with the instructional technology coaches from across South Carolina and I was surprised to find out that not many of them knew what the word Luddite meant. Urbandictionary.com defines a Luddite as, “one who fears technology (or new technology, as they seem pleased with how things currently are...why can't everything just be the same?),” but this is not a new fad word. Originally the Luddites where a group of workers in England that believed that the machines of the early industrial revolution would take their jobs or force them to take lower wages. In rebellion they would sabotage the machines or burn the factories down. So it seems, no matter how far you go back in time there has always been a group apposed to technological change.

This week the Beatles finally made it to iTunes. Unsurprisingly the fans are going wild, unfortunately so are the Luddites. Below are just a few things that are disturbing me

1. The Beatles are milking their fans for every penny. Most of their diehard fans just bought the entire collection when it was remastered last year. If their fans knew a little more about technology, maybe they would rip the CD’s they already have and save themselves $150 and the quality would be better.

2. The Beatles haven’t really come around. The word is that the Beatles are not a permanent fixture on iTunes. This could be all marketing driven, but I have my doubts.

3. There are still bands that don’t want to “sell out.” It way cooler to sell out to

Wal-Mart than iTunes. See the huffingtonpost.com for a list of 8 artists. Notice that most of them had their heyday before the age of the Internet. That says Luddite to me.

4. Most of the talk on the internet about this is being done by obvious Luddites. I read a short blurb about the Beatles on Savings.com that starts off “For those of you that get your music on iTunes.” I couldn’t help but think, “Who doesn’t?” My question was answered at hometheaterspot.com. The guys on this forum aren’t real big fans of iTunes. I will not disagree that there are some quality issues. But to the causal listener, it is not noticeable.

All of this points to one larger issue which is that there are still people that will not embrace new technology. I don't know if it is because they are afraid, or because the are stubborn. I don't guess it matters. As long as they fight technological change, they will continue to hold the rest of us back as well.