The luxury of blabbing in the blogsphere

One of my classmates hit the nail on the head in the discussion board stating that people in poverty may not feel computers are a priority especially if they don't see it as is a tool for them or somehow useful. I truly believe that this viewpoint amongst low- income families is slowly changing, but it could take several years. The question that is hanging out there for me is "Are people really better off with personal computers in the first place?" Yes, computers give us more access to information quickly, they help us in research projects and keeping in touch with friends. However, I know I spend a lot of wasted time on the computer. I sometime brag to friends how little I watch T.V. I tell people that information with pride, but you know what? My T.V. time was replaced by the internet. I don't play games or surf porn, but I can't really account for a lot of the time I am online. I know I e-mail quite a bit and look up news, but those 2 things combined make up less than 50% of my online time. So knowing this, how can I promote a technical tool that interferes with true (in person) social networking, causes eye strain in small children (http://www.tifaq.com/kids/aoa-children_vision.html), causes carpel tunnel, is more than likely becoming the alternative babysitter (TV being the first) for many families, and allows very easy access to a lot of negative things such as the above mentioned porn.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not want to limit computer access to anyone except maybe child molesters out there who are on disney.com as I type. I just wonder if all this technology is really good for our society. In terms of our organizing class, I really think it is a good tool to reach out to many people, but the valuable in-person connection is lost. This concerns me a great deal. Our culture could see a huge paradigm shift in the coming years- it is happening already. Some teens are spending huge amounts of time online and not really learning how to connect with peers in person. I can understand this- the internet is safe in a way because it is so anonymous. You can belong to a world where you can make yourself up and/or hide away. Whatever you desire. You can find sites where you won’t be judged and if you are you can always find a new chat room or site that you can feel you belong. This is harder in the real world. I struggle with all of this so much. I don’t think this technology belongs only to those who can afford it, but on the other hand, I am worried about a future where everyone is online, connected 24-7 and very little face-to-face social interaction occurs.