This article by Howard Rheingold desls with the rejection of the use of modern technology by the Amish, who kive in Pennsylvania. They wear plain clothes, cultivate their rich fields, do not use public electricity, and so on.
Howard visited them, and tells us about how they started out, the way they decides new technology the come in, their two groups, but he focuses in cases in which modern technology is used such as modern barbecues, use of electricity from public lines, computers ... but he pays special attention to the use of the cell phone. Some Amish use it, above all business phones, others only make use of it acoding to their philosophy "does its use bring the community tohether, or draw it apart?" what Howard will finish questionig.
 

THE INTERNET AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE.

The article tell us about the term public sphere, which Havermas explains its meaning as  the groups people do in social life depending on free communication and discusion of ideas, being the medias of the public sphere newspapers, periodicals, radio and television.
The article also deals briefly with the publicness of democracy, which reduces public discourse. We also mantain communication with each other via the new media material such as online discourse, which needs an afinity and finally a social infrastructure. Some examples of online tools which exits for citizens are: CapAdvantage, Freedom Forum Online, WebActive, Free Spech Discourse Television,E-The People,Vox.Cap.com.