I have no comment on the issue about the USPS giving email addresses to
every household in the US as I haven't looked over the facts carefully,
but I would like to respond to the following comments Suzanne made:
> I think the whole idea is kinda silly anyway. Creating an email address for
> every household isn't going to get those householders to somehow magically
> have Internet access. Sure, they could go to the library. But how many
> will? Currently, if I need to check a web site on a PC, I have to call in
> the morning to make an appointment to use the Ashland library's Internet
> station for 30 minutes. On a typical day, there will only be two or three
> slots open to use it. Imagine if every computerless household in Ashland
> were trying to get time on that one computer? Over in nearby Medford,
> library users are forbidden to use the Internet station for e-mail. To cut
> down on demaind it is designated for research only.
I live in Worcester, MA a fairly large city and I've noticed as you have
that the Library's Internet terminals are not available most of the time
and you have to sign up in advance. Nevertheless I don't see that that is
a limitation to the future, temporary maybe yes but not permanent - change
necessitates change.
> The notion of every
> household having an e-mail address is about as useless as every college
> student having an e-mail address. My son still called me collect--he didn't
> want to be bothered with walking all the way over to the computer science
> lab.
I would make an assumption your son is studying in a national or libral
arts style school which possibly is very large as well. I on the other
hand I'm studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, predominantly an
Engineering school, with no more than 4000-4500 students/faculty. Email
here is a matter of life. In fact most students that come here have never
used email or even computers for that matter, prior to coming here.
Regardless of that fact practically everything from project work, to
homework assignments, teacher-student communication, etc.,etc. is done
through email.
In respect to contacting parents and family I can offer myself as a
perfect example. I came here from the Middle east in Jan, 96, I probably
haven't called or have my parents or family members call me more than 1-5
times a year (5 being the extremity), usually for emergency issues. I
communicate with three of my family members daily through email without
any problems, and probably more often than most people talk with their
kids while away. When they leave the country and go on holiday or
business, whether it be England, Bulgaria, Romania, or whatever I've had
contact with them - through email!
> I've been trying for 4 years to get my dad to go to the library to
> check out my web design work and it still hasn't happened. Think he's gonna
> go to the library to check for bills and junk mail? No way!
Here I will also agree, my father for example is the only person in my
family that couldn't be bothered to try the Internet or learn how to ue
email programs to communicate with me. He knows my mother and sibblings
write to me regularly so he just uses them as a medium. I think as long
as people have (or think they have) other or better ways, rather ways they
feel more comfortable with they will avoid adopting new ways.
It's a matter of changing paradigms, if we aren't forced to change
sometimes, we don't, even if it's to our detriment. I think that at my
college for example and colleges like MIT and so on, if it wasn't for a
greater emphasis by faculty, staff and administration at the forefront of
such initiatives many if not most of the students would have been
reluctant and robably not used the electronic infrastructure. They had no
reason to learn - now they are forced to by necessecity. Reciprocaly
colleges had no reason to improve infrastructure cause nobody was using
it, then when everybody was made to used it, the had no choice....
I hope you understand what I'm trying to say?
Thanks,
Jason Papadopoulos
Worcester, MA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.wpi.edu/~jasonp
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