Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and Arizona named as finalists for 2014 Luddite Awards.
The term Luddite has become a common insult to describe people who are opposed to inevitable technology innovations, deriving its origin from craftsmen who opposed mechanized textile innovations in the 19th Century.
The first ever Luddite Award, which is expected to be given out on February 5, by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) may be deservedly slapped on Texas, New Jersey, Arizona and Michigan. These 4 states have banned Tesla from bypassing auto dealership model to sell cars directly.
The ITIF welcomes votes from members of the public for the nominee they'd most like to win the award..
The term Luddite has become a common insult to describe people who are opposed to inevitable technology innovations, deriving its origin from craftsmen who opposed mechanized textile innovations in the 19th Century.
The first ever Luddite Award, which is expected to be given out on February 5, by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) may be deservedly slapped on Texas, New Jersey, Arizona and Michigan. These 4 states have banned Tesla from bypassing auto dealership model to sell cars directly.
"The central challenge of our time is the need to rapidly increase living standards and quality of life for all of the world's citizens," said Robert Atkinson, president of ITIF, in a statement. "Innovation and technological development are absolutely essential to achieving this goal, but increasingly interests are uniting to thwart technology at every corner. By highlighting the most egregious examples of these efforts we hope to better educate the public and policymakers on why Luddite opposition is profoundly mistaken."
The quartet of four shamed states sit among other nominees for the award too, including the National Rifle Association for its opposition to Smart Guns, the state of New York for its crackdown on Airbnb, and interestingly, the Electronic Frontier Foundation for its opposition to Health IT.
These ‘neo-Luddites’ have worked to convince the public and policymakers that technological innovation is something to be feared and contained,” writes the ITIF in its official press release. “Their targets include genetically modified organisms, new Internet apps, smart meters, health IT, big data and increasingly productivity itself
The ITIF welcomes votes from members of the public for the nominee they'd most like to win the award..