I have been avoiding posting anything on this initially since there was so much conflicting information about what is happening over in China right now, but a few things stood out to me, and bear mention on this blog.  First off, the news of the earthquake broke, not on CNN, but on [ Twitter ] .  I find this interesting since so many people have given me a hard time about twitter.   This, I think, proves the usability and reliability of Twitter.  Emergency situations like this allow people to pop off a quick update on what is happening, and whether they are OK, without having to spend hours on the phone, or trying to find a computer.

Secondly, the area hit by this earthquake was predominate in China’s Tech industry.  I wonder what long term effects this will have, and what impacts we will see in the US tech industry, since much of our tech products are made by the Chinese.

I also find China’s new found transparency to be very interesting.  Back in the 70′s when China experienced a massive earthquake, taking the lives of more the 250,000 people, they blocked all assistance and provided almost no information about what was going on.  This go round, they have been providing regular updates, and are requesting assistance.

Ultimately, the situation is pretty grim, and lots of lives have been lost and likely more are to be over the  next week or so.  As a hopeful adoptive parent of a child from China, I’m keeping a close eye on the situation, and hope for the best possible outcome of a horrible situation.