Teen wonders if we'll leave an 'IT wasteland'

Out of the mouths of babes or, actually, teens, the truth seems less filtered.

I was just writing an opinion column about a totally different topic (tech talent), when I read this essay by Louis Wegner, a college student from Racine, Wis., who just won a $5,000 scholarship in an essay-writing contest by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

Louis, along with the other college-age essay writers, was asked to write about the coolest new technology he anticipated would change the world in the next 25 years. He took a different tack than the other entrants, urging his elders to pay more attention to energy-efficient hardware designs and better software design to avoid a coming "IT wasteland." Roger Daltry certainly isn't singing about this teen!

Kudos to you, Louis, for saying what we should all be saying much louder.