Rep. Kahn, How would you propose funding this? Why should it be a government issue and not a commercial interest?
I am a proponent of enhancing our techno-infrastructure to attract business but what would this achieve beyond the 'cool factor'? Wireless hot spots are being funded privately as fee based services. Regards, Jason Stone | Hale --- Phyllis Kahn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This should be a Minneapolis story. I have been urging city gurus to do > something like this for over a year. Could be done in parks, public > buildings, neighborhoods, public housing etc. This is the beginning of > the article (the moderator rejected the whole article as being too > long.) and the link is at the end. > > With Wireless, an English City Reaches Across Digital Divide > > May 31, 2003 > By MARK LANDLER > > > > > > > MANCHESTER, England, May 29 - Three years ago, Shirley > Hughes lived a life of dreary routine, collecting welfare > checks, bringing up two children as a single mother, > passing her evenings in front of the television. > > Today, she teaches her neighbors how to use computers at a > local college while studying for a teaching certificate. At > home, she skips <object.title class="Movie" idsrc="nyt_ttl" > value="7425">"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"</object.title> in > favor of the Internet, which she surfs avidly, downloading > patterns for patchwork quilts, her favorite hobby. > > Ms. Hughes's computer is connected to the Internet "24/7," > as she puts it, through a technology known as Wi-Fi. For > her, it has been a virtual passport out of the decaying > industrial landscape of East Manchester, a place only now > recovering from the end of history's last great commercial > revolution. > > Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity, has generated a lot of > excitement here and in the United States as a way to offer > high-speed Internet access in airports, cafes, bars and > restaurants - anywhere one finds a surfeit of laptop-toting > customers and a scarcity of telephone jacks. > > In Manchester, the once-grimy Victorian city famous as the > birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Wi-Fi is being > used, for the first time ever on this scale, as a way to > bridge the digital divide. > > "We wanted to give people access to the latest technology," > said Sean McGonigle, a local official who led the effort to > build a network in Manchester. "In our wildest dreams, we > didn't envisage the impact it would have." > > Ms. Hughes, 40, marvels at the changes in her life. "If not > for this, I'd still be cleaning house," she said. > > Unlike the latest third-generation, or 3G, cellular > telephone technology, where European providers are ahead of > their American counterparts, Europe trails the United > States in the development of Wi-Fi. But there have been a > raft of projects begun here in recent weeks, suggesting > that Europe has caught the bug. (to be continued). > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/31/technology/31WIFI.html?ex=1055526308&ei=1&en=b4a3634e7feab2c0 > > Phyllis Kahn State Rep 59B > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject > (Mpls-specific, of course.) > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
