A few quick comments first:
**University professors have three missions: Teaching, research, and
SERVICE. The service mission will cover almost all e-mail and discussion
group activity. Other state employees are left hanging.
**E-mail today is akin to the telephone of yore. Theoretically, no State
employee should be able to use a State-owned phone to make a personal call
notifying family that they will be working late! In practice, we know
better. But the powers that be are still uncomfortable with this new
e-mail/Internet technology, so they flail about trying to find sufficient
and reasonable policy and guidelines.
Now to the gist of my post:
Not long ago, Steve Cooke wrote: " My understanding of the Vision2020 list
server is to discuss ideas of importance to the Moscow-Pullman area,
typically within an economic
development scope." Along those lines:
Until recently, I was a semi-rural Latah County resident enjoying the
services of the Troy Telephone Company (with 640 phones in the system). No
Internet Service Provider could afford to offer services within the system,
and few, if any residents could afford the long distance telephone fees
required to enjoy real on-line services. Since moving to Boise, however, I
have enjoyed the benefits of an on-line world.
At home, I can access today's New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times,
Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Lewiston Morning Tribune, and Molly Ivis columns
in the Texas-based Star-Telegram. (And for a $10 yearly fee, download the
NYT crossword puzzles). I can find lots of science, and see what the Hubble
Space Telescope sees. And from my house in Boise, I can learn of the Moscow
City Council agenda.
More importantly, business is now on the Internet. Don't think about
LLBean's on-line catalog. Think about the fact that any organization can
have instant access to Federal Government research and statistics, Idaho
State Code, major journals, worldwide list-serve discussion groups of
professional colleagues, professional organizations, better informational
depth that any encyclopedia, and the ability to share information and
data--computer to computer-- with vendors and consumers across the country.
What does this portend for the future economic development of Latah County
outside of the local, toll-free zones? What does it portend for the
children who are on-line illiterate? (I sincerely believe that an inability
to aggressively access information from the Internet is becoming as serious
a handicap as the inability to navigate within a library.) Today, access to
the Internet provides one an advantage. In the coming years, lack of access
could be de facto disfranchisement.
Is this a problem? If so, how will it be solved?
Peace,
Lou
p.s. (This post does was not meant to criticize the Troy Telephone Company
or any of their employees. In fact, I always enjoyed their friendly and
attentive service.)
Lou Sternberg, Ph.D. (208)343-0555
5017 Bel Air loustern@primenet.com
Boise ID 83705-2777