Dr. Steve Eskow wrote (in part)
Personal or social computing: which is the right road for those without
computers and their benefits to get access to them?
======================================================
I am not sure that this is the question. The first question to ask is
the one to ourselves which seeks to unravel just how much of our
cultural values we are imposing on this and related issues. In the US,
there is an interesting term, "The New Elite" coined by David Lebedof,
to designate the enthusiastic, college graduates, usually, who want to
bring the world together and thus have some images of what the
introduction of ICT's will do for this socially engineered ideal. One
must remember that the Marxist models, with a notable exception, have
collapsed (as "The End of History" so eloquently argues). On the other
hand the neoclassical economic model of free enterprise has also failed.
The "Myth of Progress" is not transferable from the world of
science/engineering to the socio/economic world with people added into
the mix.
The second issue/question has to do with the interoperability and
connectivity between computers. This impacts hardware and software. But
the idea is to allow information to flow seamlessly across the Net. Of
course such seamlessness opens systems up to virus transmissions of all
types also. This latter can be as insidious as product marketing (say of
Coca Cola).
The third issue is portability; and here we are still thinking computers
when we know that the universal phone/computer does exist and there are
educational institutions planning e-learning with these dual band devices.
Thus, in many ways the simputer in its current embodiment represents
past visions. It is true in developing countries where cells are often
ubiquitous. Thus support of the Simputer, in its current embodiment and
the comparison with laptops or desktops is moot.
Rather it is ":academic" which seems to be a better term.
thoughts?
tom abeles
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