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CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
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1995-01-15
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WindoWatch The Electronic Windows Magazine of the Internet
Volume 1 No.2 January 1995
An Editorial (c)1995 by Lois B. Laulicht
Pot Holes and Detours on the Electronic Highway
Let's stop kidding! The so-called Electronic Highway is in practical
terms just a two mile stretch of interstate leading to nothing better
than a cart path! In terms of the diversity of tools, formats, and
operating systems, this electronic roadway which is encapsulated by the
term Internet, is going to require a mammoth overhaul to have utility
for garden variety computer users. Further, to believe that the ordinary
user is unimportant until that user takes the time to learn esoteric
operating systems, is a worn out and self-serving ethic.
Until very recently, the Department of Defense and the National Science
Foundation have been picking up the Internet tab using public funds.
However, the rules and ethos of the Internet have changed and there is a
new power structure in charge...with still another waiting anxiously in
the wings. The newest computer users are flocking onto the Internet in
ever increasing numbers in search of their electronic Nirvana. Too often
they find traffic jams slowing down fast 14,000 modems to a crawl or the
unexpected no carrier message dumping them back into unpleasant reality.
As a result, their stay can be frustrating, hence disappointing, and
therefore brief. The unfriendly language of UNIX is not only cryptic and
unintuitive but can effectively keep the new computer user on the
outside frantically trying to get in. The response from business
identifying a full blown gold mine in this unregulated information
bonanza is generating new business ideas and strategies, an instant
demand for shells and friendlier front ends, ong with the newest status
symbol, the Internet address!
The Internet has been characterized in positive terms as a natural
anarchy where insiders protect the ethic of freedom of speech to a point
where offensive speech, not tolerated in most social groupings, is
ignored. When experienced Internetters discuss Federal regulation of
the Internet there is rarely a middle position where compromise is
possible but rather a vehement chorus to keep the federal rascals out.
In fairness, any rational person has to agree that the Fed has done very
poorly in these areas. The Internet is a microcosm of the greater
society - with all the ills! In the United States, deregulation led to
the greatest bank robbery in history while regulation rarely works
because the people who are to be regulated too often own those
monitoring their activities. In spite of the rhetoric and self interest,
the institution we call the Internet is being examined, dissected, and
reassembled in ways that were unthinkable a few years ago.
The final form it will take is still evolving as the giants of
commerce and capital reshape the focus. Insiders debate the changes to
come with poorly concealed anxiety. The elitism of the chosen few has
given way to making money. Given the potential power for easy(?)
Internet access, what we do has enormous implications for
democratizing the net as an inclusive institution. There exists an
obligation to protect with vigilance the rights of those not yet ready
to go on-line!
Because vast numbers of people do not yet have substantial presence on
the Internet does not negate their substantial interest. Those
interests must not be diminished or finessed away during the coming
gold rush!