Sender: George White <•••@••.•••>
It is indeed helpful to step back and look at the major issues from time
to time, as online discussions tend to wander if left alone.
On the question of universal access: if you think about the US 50 to 100
years ago, libraries were being created in areas with conditions that
today are associated with underdeveloped countries. It is a mistake to
think that infrastructure (e.g., sewer systems, etc.) has to come before
access to information. Access to information is key to enabling people
to set their own priorities in dealing with their problems.
Today, efforts to provide information to as many people as possible have
vastly more tools than were available 50 years ago, and public access
terminals should be a priority in such efforts. Many of the proposals
for the future of the internet have implications for efforts to provide
universal access -- the robber barons are going to focus on "markets",
which is a very different goal.
--
George White <•••@••.•••> <•••@••.•••>
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Posted by -- Andrew Oram -- •••@••.••• -- Cambridge, Mass., USA
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