Re: [atlarge-discuss] Membership fees/One solution for the digital divide

["Ron Sherwood" <sherwood@islands.vi>]

Judyth la pomme wrote:

> One possible future I've seen discussed is based on the concept that
everyone on
> the planet will eventually have some degree of Internet access and a
unique
> domain name through which their communications will be routed.

<<balance of post removed>>

        I have recently returned from a three week trip in which most of my
time was spent in remote Mayan villages in the Western Highlands of
Guatemala.  It was interesting to note that while very few people outside of
Guatemala City actually own a computer, every township had numerous Internet
cafe's that were bursting at the seams with users.

        In some towns there were thirty or more Internet cafe's, each with
from ten to fifty computers.  The cost of use with Internet access was as
low as $1 per hour in some places (still two hours wages for some). However,
the remote villages did not have Internet access (or even telephone access
in many cases).

        The purpose of this anecdote is to show that there are indeed many
thousands of people who do not own computers but who do have Internet
access, and who should be represented in some fashion. It behooves us to
remember these people when we design our outreach policies and ensure that
our methodology is inclusive.

Ron Sherwood

----- Original Message -----
From: <espresso@e-scape.net>
To: <atlarge-discuss@lists.fitug.de>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 3:44 PM
Subject: [atlarge-discuss] Membership fees/One solution for the digital
divide


> One possible future I've seen discussed is based on the concept that
everyone on the planet will eventually have some degree of Internet access
and a unique domain name through which their communications will be routed.



---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
For additional commands, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-help@lists.fitug.de