Newton Users Have Religion?
BargainPDA posts a very interesting article today on the religiocity (its a word) of Apple Newton users and their devotion to the long ago abandoned platform. I am in the process of reading this (a nice sized PDF), but have to say that so far, its a compelling study and can make for an interesting case across many fields people are involved in.
What are your thoughts on this article? And as a whole, can technology really become a religion?
posted by Antoine @ 8/15/2005 04:55:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The article is pretty ironic since MyBible started out on the Newton. For more, see http://www.thefedors.com/themessage/.
Well, speaking as one of the "laboratory rats"from this study (I am a long-time member of the NewtonTalk community, one of the major sources for this study, and I also took part in a questionnaire for this study)**, I think that while there may be something to say about this, the Newton is _certainly_ not unique! I also suspect that the conclusions from the study are a bit overdrawn. It's been a while since I read the paper, and it has gone through some revisions since I last read it, but honestly speaking, they do have a point. ;-)
If you read PalmAddict regularly, you can find the exact same religious fervor there as has existed on NTLK and other Newton sites in the past (and some say still exists today) but IMNSHO, I think that PalmAddict is _far_ more rabid than the Newton community ever was! Maybe it's the medium (a blog) or maybe it's something less obvious, but those elements that people call "religious" certainly exist in the Palm community. :-)
However, I suppose it's interesting to think about this. What exactly _is_ religion? I personally view religion as a psychological phenomenon, not a spiritual one. It meets an emotional need, and little more. Religion cannot meet the true spiritual needs, only those emotional ones that masquerade for the deeper, spiritual needs--making one feel good about himself, without actually meeting those true underlying needs. As such, _anything_ can become a religion--from technology to any hobby. In fact, when I see how people treat their sci-fi addiction, or model railroading, etc. I see a lot of "religion" in it. Of course, the primary need that these things fulfill is the need for a sense of community--something which is both inclusive and exclusive--including those who are on the "in", and excluding those who are not, even to the point of ridicule for those who just don't "get it." All these things point to certain aspects of religion at the community level.
So, in an attempt to summarize, while it was awkward to read about myself in the study, I see that there is a lot of truth to it at a certain level. But, as I said, it's not limited to the Newton, that's for sure! ;-)
-Jon G.
**One of the originators of the study, and possibly the main one, has actually "drunk the cool-aid" and bought himself multiple Newtons, and is a fairly active participant on the Newtontalk mailing list. Have you ever seen a scientist climb into the rat's cage, and become a rat? Fascinating for technology which was killed 8 years ago! ;-)
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