A poll sponsored by the Business Software Alliance on attitudes toward software is a bit disquieting. While 85% of adults say that digital technology is generally "essential or important" in their daily lives:

Only 66% say it allows them to purchase things from home or office;
Only 39% say it has improved the productivity and efficiency of society;
Only 35% say it has improved their ability to travel;
Only 18% say it has improved their safety.

These results give one pause. Two-thirds of U.S. adults do not know that software permeates every form of transportation, including autos? And 80% do not know of the automated safety devices that have become ubiquitous?

Indeed, even when one sees that at least 72% agree that digital technology has improved communications, one wonders "who are the other 28% and what planet are they on?"

Mulling over the poll leads to sober more general concerns about how little the public may grasp the role of intellectual property in its collective life, and the stakes involved in the proper definitions, limitations, and protections of IP.