The Church 2.0?

I was an assistant ward clerk my freshman year of college. I had the privilege of using a DOS-based program to record financial information. This was 2002 and I was using DOS! My tendency to complain is subdued when I consider the plight of ward clerks just a few years previous. To calculate and record all of this information at a ward level would be daunting. I imagine it would take all afternoon. That precious DOS program allowed me plenty of time to get to the cafeteria before it closed and enjoy my much anticipated chicken cordon blue. This time savings can be multiplied thousands of times as we consider all of the wards and stakes as well as Church headquarters. Technology allows Latter-day Saints the world over to throw data at computers and get home to Sunday dinner.
Technology has fundamentally changed the way the Church operates. Interestingly enough, however, worship services remain largely unchanged. I have yet to see a Sacrament Meeting speaker with a clicker and laser guiding us through a Power Point presentation. So, while there have been significant changes to the operations of the Church because of technology, there have not been significant changes to the Church itself.
The decision of what technology to use and when is guided by the same principles that have guided the Church since the days of Adam. The goal is to bring as many people unto Christ as possible. The Church does not use technology for technology's sake. Technology is a means, and an effective means, to an end. Elder L. Tom Perry puts it this way, "Salvation is not in facilities or technology, but in the word."
The Church will continue to embrace new technology insofar as it allows individuals more time to spend living the message that these innovations deliver.
Articles inspiring this post:
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1984.htm/ensign%20june%201984%20.htm/the%20church%20and%20computers%20using%20tools%20the%20lord%20has%20provided.htm
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/2002.htm/ensign%20april%202002.htm/mormon.org.htm
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/2000.htm/ensign%20may%202000.htm/thou%20shalt%20give%20heed%20unto%20all%20his%20words.htm