An Amish ‘computer’?

‘Made specifically for the plain people by the plain people’.

The Classic boasts ‘unequaled safety’.  It is ‘Not just a locked computer’, promising ‘No modem, no phone port or Internet connection, no outside programs, no sound, no photographs, no games or gimmicks’.

The ad is found on page 3 of this year’s Lancaster County Business Directory, a collection of advertisements of hundreds of (mostly Amish and Mennonite) area businesses.

Some Amish church districts allow, or at least tolerate, laptops and desktops.

In others, the line gets drawn at the word processor.

In this regard, the computer is now a bit like the cellphone has become in some communities.

As with the cell, it has gotten to the point where the computer is openly used in some districts–while in others owning one will get you into trouble.

At the same time, it’s probably not nearly as common as the cell, as it’s a lot harder to hide a Dell than it is a Nokia.

Also (somewhat) like the cellphone, the computer has even affected the way some Amish communicate–there are a few Amish that use email, as I’ve found as I continue to add to my (admittedly still meager) ‘Amish email rolodex’.