Innovation is democratizing relationships

On a Sunday morning last month, the neighborhood lady who helps with my quarters' upkeep WeChatted a cheery e-sticker of Dragon Boat Festival greetings. She followed it up with an image of a bag hanging on my door. She didn't want to wake me up. So sweet!

As sweet as the stuff in the bag: glutinous rice dumplings with pieces of dates, wrapped in long leaves and neatly secured with thread.

I'm not a sucker for hyped-up technologies that book-jacket blurbs insist "make a difference", "improve lives", "empower people" and "transform societies". But tech-driven life in Beijing is producing second thoughts.