I see a very close parallel to what happened after the end of the Second World War. At the end of the Second World War, the focus was on atomic weapons, the technology. Today, the analogous idea is on information technology. We believe that’s the cure-all for everything.

There’s an art and science to war. The science is in support of the art. The science gives you the weapons systems; it allows you to have the communications; it allows you to have all the things that support the actual conduct of war. War, as it is fought, is an art. It’s not a science. If you try to make it a science, you’re bound to be disappointed.

- US Gen. Paul Van Riper, PBS Interview

Substitute preaching for war, and I think that you have a good assessment of the relationship between information technology and preaching.

These two articles: Disposable Worship: a caution about using too much technology in worship, and The Gospel According to Electronic Culture: What if the medium really is the message? from the blog of Leadership Journal also examine the tension between the art and science of preaching in an age where the dominant science is IT.

These are important points to ponder as we adopt and adapt current technologies to use in Krishna’s service. As Swami Tripurari once said, we run the risk of becoming more absorbed in megabytes than in their maker. Anything used in Krishna’s service is spiritual, but as Srila Prabhupada explained spiritual life is a razor’s edge. It’s good to keep thinking about it, and watching as things swing from one extreme to another to try to find the middle path.

(Random example) Sure, giving all the Atma Yoga guests a membership card with a barcode on it would enable us to process them efficiently with minimal staff, and allow us to capture an unprecedented level of detail of statistics - but is that really a good idea?

I think the example given in the Disposable Worship piece is very good:

Borgmann says technology can make certain wonderful “goods” in our lives disappear without us even knowing it. Example: the central fireplace is replaced by the invisible central air furnace. In the process the family that once gathered around the fireplace to get warm before heading off to bed no longer engages in the community-building routine. The family no longer talks about the day, tells stories, or prays together. Through technology we lose what Borgman calls a “focal practice.” We lose a concrete, formative, and simple activity, and our lives are changed without ever noticing.

At the Sunday Feast we have the projection screen with the graphics, the stage, the mics, the polished practiced performance of kirtan (in the line of that envisioned by Srila Prabhupada for the World Sankirtan Party), and we also have the mrdanga and cartal kirtan with dancing. Keep it simple and direct. Look at people, touch them, move around them and influence them, allow them to influence you, smile, loosen up, have fun, don’t take it seriously, play. This chanting of the Holy Name is immersive and enchanting - and necessary.

The first one cannot replace the second - it can augment and enhance the overall presentation, but the main course is the combined enthusiastic chanting and dancing. Whatever contributes to enthusiastic chanting is favorable, whatever detracts from it is unfavorable.