Fruits of Technology

I have often heard leading lights protest about technology being anti poor and so on. Recently on Discovery channel was this pretty anti-globalisation activist in Bangalore criticizing globalisation as anti human for the rich. Now once a while there is a loose-loose for poor because of "progress" i think over all the benefits outweigh the risks.
There is a story how Mr Sukhram- a ex telecom minister who had wads of cash discovered in his house by a police agency still won his elections. His singular contribution - he put up PCOs in every nook and corner of Himachal Pradesh. Apple farmers could call up buyers and fix prices and sell produce. While he may have been corrupt (or not, don't know if court has decided the matter one way or another) what mattered to the farmers is that their incomes increased.
The Economist has this story about fishermen in Kerala who use mobile phones to figure out where are the buyers and directly go there. Fish is a perishable commodity so in case of a good catch by many prices fall and hence a lot of stock had to be dumped. Not any more, fisherman can locate a buyer upfront and directly deliver there, problem solved.
Similarly ITC has put echoupal (choupal refers to Village meeting ground) where farmers can log in and check crop prices across market and directly deliver. Without this, they just have to hit across a market and hope they'll get good prices. Transport costs ensure that you have to get it right the first time. The only people who benefited earlier were the agents who would buy cheap because the producer could not take away the produce to another market after getting it to one for costs reasons. They could store and later sell higher.
Interestingly its the much maligned private sector that has lead these initiatives.
There are many such cases. Broadband can get masses access to world very cheap. Farmers eg can read about weather forecasts in their area as well as competing regions and decide on what to sow. Small producers can look up consumers. Artists can showcase their catalog, resturants can advertise food festivals, the list is endless. Technology empowers the masses. Often the proponents of politics of poverty get anti technology. This harms the poor (and helps the proponent), Whats the point of preserving excess manpower in say a textile firm when the competitor in China has half the workforce and twice the machines. We will simply stop getting orders, govt will subsidize a while and finally the whole nation will get broke and collapse. We almost had that situation in early 90s. Sometimes I wonder if actually the left has a hidden agenda to ensure India cannot compete with China?
Its not just the left though. The opposition to technology is widespread. Some out of ignorance, some out of malice. Ruling classes don't want the great unwashed to be empowered because than they expect results. Capitalists sometimes don't want to invest in costly upgrades, especially if there is a government willing to subsidize. Have a look at our fertilizer subsidies and many PSUs for examples.
But I have hope. TV is now so universally available, and it makes an impact. Not just the news items and such shows but even the soap operas impact the masses in many ways. It creates an aspirational culture and it introduces a world view in masses. Internet is getting ubiquitous and that brings unprecedented amount of unfettered information. Sooner or later masses will get on the bandwagon and discover the opportunities.
I just hope it comes within my lifetime.