How the internet can make the world a lot smaller, in all the best ways…

As an admitted Internet addict and news junkie, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of things like the unveiling of the iPhone or the new NHL jerseys or to want to read more about the inspiring play of Sidney Crosby or the progress of the Tragically Hip‘s North American tour (they’re coming here in April!).

This truly remarkable video by Robert Thompson about some people in the US getting together to buy a poor family in China a water buffalo, to me, really puts into perspective some of the things we could be doing a lot more of on the Internet. I’m sure there are lots of companies out there who would rather we not realize that for the cost of an iPhone we could buy a water buffalo for a Chinese family or change the lives of people on the other side of the world in equally remarkable ways. The internet is turning out to be a remarkable tool in doing just this. Look, for instance, at what KIVA is up to…

Take a look at this informative page from Heifer International’s website to see lots of small things we can do at home, too, to start helping the world.

(I found this video today via Tim Lauer’s great Education/Technology blog. I’ve now subscribed to the feed from Robert Thompson’s blog as well.)