Cyberostrich pp. 5, 25

A cyberostrich is someone who keeps his head in the sand, and refuses to see the full implication of technological change beyond what is possible today. I invented the following parable to help explain: In 1800 a cyberostrich concieved the idea of jet engine and imagined it as a means to augment the power of horses, so that a stagecoach could cross the continent in half the time. This story is made up, of course, but shows cyberostrich thinking very well. A more typical, real world cyberostrich is the school administrator who embraces computers in the classroom as a way to drill children more efficiently, to teach "better" what is already being taught. He cannot see past the existing models, and creates a whole curriculum around limiting the ability of kids to use computers for what computers do best. (see Cybertopian, Cybercritic)

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