Taran Rampersad, presently in Panama City, writes: <<I'm not convinced on the 'Public Computing Concept', so maybe that should be the focus of discussion now that it seems that the merit of the Simputer is understood, Steve.>>
There is no necessary conflict between the "public" and the "private." Those who can afford private automobiles should be allowed to have them, until the world's pollution problem becomes so great that we have to consider limiting that right. Those who can afford to buy the book should be allowed to do so: those who can not should have access to the book via the public library. Those who can afford their own cell phones and computers and ISP's should of course be allowed to purchase them for their exclusive use. Those who cannot should not be denied the use of these technologies, and that means some form of sharing, some form of communal support: the public computer. One writer here used the term "public commons," the notion that democracies are characterized not by an Ayn Randian glorification of selfishness but by the communal support of basic institutions. Steve Eskow [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
