It is not technology's fault
"Blaming the London riots on BBM is like blaming the Second World War on radio." This much retweeted, appropriately anonymous quote sums up the strange problem technology faces when events like the London riots erupt.
The world was quick to triumph the role of social media in the Arab Spring - specifically the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings - and just as quick to blame BlackBerry Messenger for the rampant criminality of hooded, disenfranchised youths who ran amok in the British capital.
The key differences were so blatantly obvious to all, but the reaction from those in power was eerily similar: shut down the communication channels.
Technology has somehow become the villain. But here's the thing: people were evil, destructive thieves and villains long before mobile instant messaging.
Humanity has been running in dangerous mobs since pitchforks and axes were used to chase so-called witches out of medieval villages. Similarly, people were "phishing" long before e-mail.
It's just a new word for "social engineering", which is just a fancy phrase for "lying to gullible idiots who let greed get the better of their common sense".
The now legendary grammatical errors of 419 scams have the origin of their name in the section of the Nigerian penal code they break, which - you might be surprised to learn - predates e-mail.
So let's be clear: It's not technology's fault that people are evil and thieving, or for that matter gullible. Technology is just an enabler. It makes this work better, go faster. Electronic mail began the communication revolution, web-based instant messaging took it to another level, as has everything else since.
It enhances the people who use it (even if social media always shows its users' "best side" - amazing how profile pictures always show people at their most radiant hey?) or enhances their ability to communicate. But equally it amplifies their bad sides just as much as it does their good sides.
Trying to shut down technology should never be an option. It's the digital equivalent of burning books. It's a bad precedent in whatever circumstances, I fear. As we saw with the Egyptian internet cut off, there are ways around any blockages on the information superhighway. That's how it's built.
It's ironic, and perhaps appropriate, that the riots (and their technology focus) exploded in the week IBM's PC celebrated its 30th anniversary.
All of this is possible because the computer - until then mostly room-sized monsters - was conceived as being small enough to put on a desk. Such smaller desktop devices were originally for enthusiasts and hobbyists.
How the world has changed in 30 years that a BlackBerry (or any other smartphone) is more powerful, has more storage, connects to the internet faster and can perform an exponential number of things better and quicker than those early IBM machines. They have colour screens, can take pictures, stream videos and make phone calls.
Technological innovation is happening at an increasing pace. Keeping up with the social changes isn't so easy, as Hosni Mubarak can tell you.
Also last week, Apple - for so long the poster child of the PC and now internet and mobile revolutions - completed the most remarkable corporate comeback ever by overtaking Exxon Mobil as the world's most valued company.
It underlines more than anything else how the nature of the world's economy has shifted towards a knowledge and services economy.
- Shapshak is editor of Stuff magazine