Two purposes, one wide and less important, and one narrow and highly important.<p>Wide/A: networks create communication creates understanding creates empathy, respect and love, hence why I want to work on Internet stuff.<p>Wide/B: faster, more disruptive change happens by empowering smaller (leaner/more agile) groups to effect that change. Utility computing should enable Joe Blogs to scale his world-changing idea from 1 person to thousands, hence why I want to work on cloud stuff.<p>Narrow: the world is a difficult place, and life is a struggle, and we're all in it together. The most we can do every day is to TRY and love each other as we love ourselves, especially your kids, your SO, your friends, etc.<p>This is damn hard and I fail every day.<p>Now, why is the wide less important than the narrow?<p>Because hundreds of other people are doing the wide stuff, and as one person, all I can do is provide a tiny push in the right direction.<p>Because technology is value-neutral. The above is how I see the potential for good, but the bad will be there too, maybe in the majority. But I have no control over that, like we have no control over spam.<p>The narrow stuff will stay with you for the rest of your life, and form, to a much deeper extent, who you really are as a person, and how much better the world will be when you leave it.