Is recession pricking our conscience?

Mark Anderson (via John Naughton) says 'tech alone is boring,' unless ...it can do something really meaningful, like provide food to a village, or health care, or clean water, then technology really is magic' and calls for a return to science, not for it's own sake, but to solve the real problems we face as humans.

Elsewhere, The School of Life has scheduled a lecture on Good Design by design doyenne, Alice Rawsthorne (who once, I think, filled the UK Design Museum with Manolos). Her blurb reads:
'There are 6.5 billion people on this planet, 90 percent of whom can't afford basic products and services. Half of them don't have regular access to food, shelter or clean water. Yet when we talk about design, it's usually about visual eye candy, a cute new chair or digital device.'

Gosh.