Re: [atlarge-discuss] Important

[espresso@e-scape.net]

Hello again, all,

At 08:14 -0400 2002/08/15, Joey Borda **star*walker** wrote:
>Third -- I would like to see us start a "PC's To People" working group (if 
>one is not yet extant), something to which Internet privileged folk (like 
>us?) can donate new, used or unneeded PC's (or cash for building or 
>purchase) for distribution **across** the digital divide.
>
>My vision, preliminary only, is that every village that wants one should 
>have at least one (and all the accoutrements) and a means to connect to the 
>Net.
>
>Who's for a "Bridges Across the Divide" (BAD) working group?

That has been the vision of a great many people around the world for years, and a good source of information on the issue and many organizations working in that area is http://www.benton.org, which also has a Digital Divide mailing list with an international readership. (Unfortunately, I had to unsubscribe a while back in order to work on other things.) 

Somehere in that list's archives you will find an organization (in New Jersey, I think) which has an online database for matching prospective donors to prospective recipients. You will also find that there are already organizations involved in equipment recycling in many communities, often in conjunction with providing community access or training.

Doing this sort of thing on even a local scale is immensely labour-intensive,  requiring warehousing space and a computer repair shop. organizations that do it on an international level need a lot of monetary donations to get the equipment where it's going. Also, recycling operations are often flooded with requests to come and pick up the old "doorstop" computers, and need not only volunteers with transport but also people who can break down the broken stuff into recyclable components and do the repairs. Often, North American organizations stick to dealing with large lots of recent equipment made available when large companies upgrade: they often donate to save the price of having the stuff hauled away and want a tax deduction, too, so one has to be a registered charity.

Much as I'd like to encourage a "BAD" from amongst this group, I think it needs to be considered as requiring a separate organization and a different structure. This organization might be in a position to provide some Web space to encourage people to involve themselves in this, too, but otherwise I think its main contribution would be in providing information -- that is, on organizations that already do recycling or how to start one in one's own community without having to reinvent the wheel.

For the moment, at least, I think we have to stick to getting ourselves organized before we set out to organize the world on too many fronts.

>Aside: I hope that this is something Bill Gates would want too. ...

As for Bill Gates, his foundation gives away lots of the shiny new computers needed to run his proprietary operating system. which the recipients are obliged to usel; ideally, they are supposed to pay for the endless equipment and software upgrades themselves forever after, and never to hear a word about open source software except that it's a "security threat". I wouldn't expect a positive response from Big Bill if I were proposing to ship 500 old 386s to Haitian schools to run StarOffice and NetTamer.

Regards,

Judyth
(who, come to think of it, could be happily distracted into organizing a group to recycle virtually-indestructible old Macs, which cost less to ship and run on a free and easy OS as well as the trickier MacLinux: there's a ton of great freeware for them, too!)

##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
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"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once 
they have exhausted all other alternatives." (Abba Eban)
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See the UNESCO OBSERVATORY ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY!
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/observatory  



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