Free Internet Access?

[Doug Tooley]

I too, like Lorraine and Joe, use SCN and the Speakeasy in a coordinated
fashion.

The value of a text only service shouldn't be undervalued.  E-mail is
currently the only internet based service that as at any sort of a mature
state and really the demand for graphical searches doesn't exceed that of
the demand that has historically been filled by a trip to the local
library - a location that by emerging standard **has free graphical
access**.  As for entertainment via the web I guess you are just going to
have to pay for that if you want it.

Ad supported internet is a real possibility.  But so is the possibility of
government supported dial-in.  The only likely opposition we'd face in a
lobbying campaign with the City of Seattle for additional dial in lines is
from existing ISP's - and if we stay text only via dial in those ISP's
might well even help us with some local and/or worldwide low-priority
bandwidth - not to advance traditional advertising but rather as more of a
NPR type PR public service. 

The exact operational model of the internet is far from determined and I
applaud the efforts of Lorraine and her committee to take a systematic
view of these alternatives.  At this time though it seems we are truly
being reactionary rather than pro-active.

My personal view is that we should focus on servicing our member
organizations - perhaps even providing SLIP/PPP connections to IP's, but
more importantly to educate and involve grass roots non-profits in the
type of communication benefits now available through e-mail and other
means.  Phone lines are important - but we're going to get a lot bigger
payoff encouraging the city to pay for text only access than by spending
our meager financial resources on such expensive items.

We can do one thing very well now in terms of opening up internet access -
we can help grass-roots organizations build a professional presence on the
net consistent with our founding policies.  

Let's at least do that!

-Douglas Tooley


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