Two technological achievements amaze me still to this very day: airplanes and cell phones. I’ve often said I’d rather be in the cockpit of a Cessna flying from Frederick to Baltimore rather than driving five minutes to the grocery store. It’s a lot safer and saner in the air.

The telephone also amazes me. I still look at it as two cans connected by a string, but with a bunch of electronics that help to boost the signal. Cell phones are even more amazing, but in the end are merely suped up radios. When you look at the history of cell phones and airplanes, their early uses share a common thread: productivity.

Both technologies were developed and promoted to make commerce easier. While one technology carried mail and business passengers, the other carried voice messages. Today the cell phone can do much more than carry voice messages, but as an article by the Associated Press’ Jesse Washington points out, minorities are not doing much with today’s 4G technology except for entertaining ourselves.

Mr. Washington described how African Americans and Latinos appear not to be using mobile technology for productive purposes, placing a greater emphasis on video games and social networks. It’s too bad, especially given the Obama administration’s push to build out our digital infrastructure. It’s part of his winning the future vision.

But if we are to out-compete, out-build, and out-innovate in order to get our economy moving again, I think that all portions of the population will have to focus on the substance of commerce and creation. So far I haven’t come across much of any policies designed to inspire a productive mindset versus the uber-focus on consumption.

Entertainment is good. It’s fun. Just ask Justin Bieber. But given the state of joblessness, and the restructuring of the workplace and its needs, I’d prefer some of Esperanza Spaulding’s depth right about now.

Thanks to Jeneba Ghatt at Jeneba Speaks for keeping the topic of minority representation at the forefront.

I always expect both sides of the political spectrum to give but mere lip service to the issue of minority representation in media. That this Democratic-controlled FCC would be no different is not surprising.

They have given themselves two convenient excuses; the national broadband plan and net neutrality. Unfortunately for the FCC, both initiatives currently shed no fruit. Maybe the FCC should have erred on the side of doing what is currently mandated by rule, overseeing the status of minorities in media, versus wasting time on net neutrality.

One possible reason for the increase in broadband access in African American households may have to do with the mode through which African Americans access broadband content. According to Pew Research Center, 64% of African Americans use cell phones or lap tops for broadband access compared to 59% of all American adults.

This may be sufficient for content providers who are only concerned that we can download a ring tone or catch up on whether Victor and Nikki are going to get back together again on The Young and the Restless.

I am more concerned about economic development and empowerment. For all its hype, the Internet’s service to our community remains limited if we cannot extract some value beyond mere entertainment and consumption.

As the high level of unemployment continues to linger in the black and Latino communities, we will need greater access to broadband options that provide greater and more secure bandwidth capabilities. It’s difficult to send out Excel spreadsheets or create blogs over a cell phone.