Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!killer!ames!mailrus!cornell!batcomputer!itsgw!steinmetz!uunet!tektronix!percival!gary
From: gary@percival.UUCP (Gary Wells)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Finding a needle in a haystack (was: future public nets)
Message-ID: <1447@percival.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jan 89 05:21:49 GMT
References: <75@sopwith.UUCP> <377@intek01.UUCP> <5859@saturn.ucsc.edu> <2589@ficc.uu.net> <434@trwind.UUCP>
Reply-To: gary@percival.UUCP (Gary Wells)
Followup-To: comp.society.futures
Organization: Percy's UNIX, Portland, OR.
Lines: 36

In article <434@trwind.UUCP> bgun@trwind.UUCP (Bill Gunshannon) writes:
>
>While we are on the subject of "future public networks" has anyone here
>considered the concept of trying to get your local public library to set
>up a small machine with a handfull of terminals in order to allow access
>to USENET NEWS information to people who would otherwise not only not have
>that access but probably have never even heard of it.
>The idea may seem strange up front but I don't think it is any stranger than
>all the other magazines that most libraries tend to carry.
>
>As an interesting side effect, if the idea caught on it could even lead to
>a new backbone consisting of libraries all across the country.  
>
>Any comments???

Well, just a couple.
1) Just this last Sunday I was been involved in a several hour long debate 
amoung 10-15 poeple regarding the quality/quantity of usenet postings and the
attendent costs of transmission, storage, and reading all that stuff.   I don't
want to speak for the group, but the general consensus was that we should be
thinking about ways to limit the volume.  I think putting terminals in the 
library would tend to vastly increase the volume.  Probably also lower the 
quality, if your library harbors the same "dubious" characters that mine does.
I'm not saying this is a bad idea; in fact I think it's a good idea.  But first
let's figure out some way to handle the _existing_ traffic gracefully.

2) My library is so strapped for operating funds that the last time we 
approached them about the local users group donating a computer to them, they 
turned us down.  Couldn't afford the power and possible maintenance costs.


-- 
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Still working on _natural_ intelligence.

gary@percival   (...!tektronix!percival!gary)