Today I wondered into the pantheon of the classic wired kid's wet dream... the original Apple Store in downtown Palo Alto.



What a simple, beautiful playland! And every blessed, white, smooth, soft-edged thing spoke to the creative spirit [forgive me for gushing] in offering a minimal, clean interface, a palette for creating, ultimately, the stories and songs of our lives. Moving pictures, sound and music. How? That's up to each artist to decide!



Quite predominently featured in the space, are long, bistro-like counters with iBooks, desktops, speakers, headphones, and computers open for people to play. Also, in the center of the aisle, low tables and comfy round balls, for kids to sit on and play games of creation or exploration.



Design. Yep. It speaks.

Mark Rauterkus, a stay-at-home dad and social instigator, approached the studio about helping to kick off a project on "youth and technology". We started inviting 10 to 20 people from all walks of life to hang out with us, share a meal [chipping in, or brown-bagging it] and to throw some thoughts up on the walls. What surprised us is that again and again, the themes of emotion, connection, spirituality, community kept emerging where we thought that "innovation" and "marketable skillset" would predominate.



This gives me tremendous hope and confidence that we have tapped into a vein with real and continued energy� young people yearning to connect with themselves, understand this insane asylum world, and to express authentically.



Joseph Campbell pointed out in his interviews with Bill Moyers, "I think what people really want more than to find the meaning of life, is to have the experience of being alive!"



If technology, in all its permutations, is a barrier to this, and not a tool, then we fail.

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