Comments on: A Ray of Hope?

By: Dave Winter

Dave Winter — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:51:23 +0000

Micheal Wesch ” we are the web ”
We are looking do more and more together for each other from a distance. Waiting makes this unatural.
To live our lives naturally takes a big connection.

I just hope everyone is included.

Dave

By: John Pederson

John Pederson — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:55:50 +0000

The person I know “most in the know” about this sort of stuff also confirms that this is a huge step forward for the Internet.

http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2008/11/15/susan-crawford-1.html

By: Kay McNulty

Kay McNulty — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:22:20 +0000

Thanks Mr. President Elect for immediately surrounding yourself by smartpeople. There is hope indeed!

By: Sean Nash

Sean Nash — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:22:21 +0000

Seriously- there must be a pile of really connected folks offering guidance to our new president-to-be. Tweeting the campaign? “Fireside chats” to come via YouTube? Hey folks… somebody GETS IT here.

“The internet is a utility.” I couldn’t agree more. I remember thinking it was when I first scored a PowerBook. At that point in my life in education, the web finally felt like my right hand, and my computer felt closer to my toaster.

It is about time. Gone are the years of science being thrown out the window as “unconnected, hifalutin’ ideas.” Gone are the years of “clearing brush for no good reason but to wear a goofy hat on television.”

I, for one, welcome our shiny new, CONNECTED, democrat overlords!

Sean

By: zenpundit

zenpundit — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:14:38 +0000

If they concentrate on revving up broadband penetration and re-securing net neutrality, that would be a great thing. However, ISP’s are already too monopolistic/oligopolistic in their practices; making them a “utility” does not mean the consumer will be protected, it may lock in bad practices as well. Devil is in the details.

I’m more concerned regarding their views on the application of a hypothetically revived “Fairness Doctrie” ( which I would oppose) as some legal scholars contend that a new Fairness Doctrine would have to be extended to the blogosphere, not merely broadcast media.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:02:15 +0000

It certainly is a ray of hope especially for those in rural areas without high speed access. There can be no true equity in our education system until this happens.

Seeing internet access as a “utility” is a profound and important paradigm shift. Thanks for posting.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:15:46 +0000

It’s good to see that internet access is getting some visibility. Although I hope that network coverage isn’t the only goal, here. Accessibility and affordability is a big concern for urban areas, where the network exists but families can’t spend $40-50 for broadband access.

I’ve only recently come to realize that while many of my students do have computers at home, many of them do not have internet access. I always assumed they went hand in hand (as they did in my house growing up).

It’s interesting to note that the price of a new computer ($500 or less for a cheap desktop) is now on par or less than just one year of broadband internet access (around $500 from Cablevision in my town).

By: Terry Elliott

Terry Elliott — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:22:33 +0000

I think that we are entering an era of decentralization and that better-than-marginal information access is key toward realizing this. This ‘de-massification’ (if Nicholas Taleb is right ) will need to rely on much better information access.