Today's Technology and Ben Franklin

How would Ben Franklin react to the new technology available today? Would he be on Face Book or Twitter? Would he be Linked In or have his own blog? As a printer by trade, he would be watching a lot of his customers gravitate to online communications and buying less printing. That could be disconcerting. After all, putting words on paper with ink is how Ben Franklin made his living.

But my guess is that Ben would be among the first to embrace the new technology. As a scientist and inventor, he would immediately grasp the tremendous benefit of this new form of media. He would experiment with it and find ways to make it more useful or efficient. That’s what he did with the wood burning stove, and with street lights, chimney flues, and other technologies of his time. I can picture him, in front of a computer monitor, mulling over in his mind all of the ways he could take advantage of the new media, a resolute expression on his face, like the day he flew the kite in a thunderstorm. No, Ben Franklin would never be one to lag behind the technology of his time.

As an experienced printer, however, Ben would also be keenly aware of the tremendous value of his own trade. The printed word has always been, and still is, an extremely powerful tool. Ben would not give it up. He would use the electronic media to boost the value of what he put into print – and vice versa. He would immediately recognize the different impacts a message can have if it is on paper or in cyber space. And the Declaration of Independence? For sure, it would be on paper.