Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ernie.Berkeley.EDU!elm From: elm@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (ethan miller) Newsgroups: comp.society.futures Subject: Re: National Computer Net: Request for Information Message-ID: <13071@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 29 Apr 89 22:47:15 GMT References: <8904280956.AA19352@s4.Tau.Ac.IL> Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU Reply-To: elm@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (ethan miller) Organization: Univ. of CA, Berserkeley Lines: 54 In article <8904280956.AA19352@s4.Tau.Ac.IL> writes: %I am all in favour of wide-spread electronic mail, reaching any home in the %world, or at least in the more developed nations. I think the network should %be international, and it should link all the countries ready for it techno- %logically wise. These include, at lease, north america, western europe, %east asia and the middle east. Of course, regular mail will still exist. %One still have to send checques, parcels, newspapers, magazines, etc. Parcels, yes. Checks, no. There are already lots of banks around here that don't return your canceled checks normally (I almost never use the cancelled checks for anything), and many larger stores have ATM card readers for purchases. Newspapers and magazines will eventually be electronically distributed, but not before everyone has high-resolution (over 1000x1000 8 bit planes) displays in their homes, especially for magazines. %I think the mass usage of electronic mail, this way, will decrease its usage %price, so it could be not higher than, and even lower than regular mail price. %I think the postal service will reduce, and the saved costs will reduce the %price of electronic mail. It already is cheaper than real mail. For 25 cents, you can call anywhere in the US (during night rate hours) for 2 minutes. During those two minutes, you can transfer 120 (sec) * 240 cps (at 2400 baud), which is 28800 characters. Thats 14 pages of double-spaced text, which is far more than you can fit into an envelope that you still pay 25 cents for. %As a user of electronic mail, I feel much better using this mailing scheme. %It is much faster and efficient than regular mail. You don't have to go to %the post office to buy stamps, and you are fairly sure that what you have sent %is received. Of course, there is yet no provission for registered mail, %although it could be supplied. Special delivery (or express) will not be %needed any more, as the regular electronic mail is fast enough. Ah, but you can't get a sweet-smelling letter from your current SO. And what about those who like writing postcards on vacation, where these terminals might be inaccessible? %However, one must take the security issue into consideration. I think most %people will feel reluctant to use electronic mail for private and confidentail %mail, as it is more vulnerable to attacks by people wishing to intercept it. Use public-key encryption. With this system, anyone can encode a message for you, but the reverse key is very difficult to calculate given only the public key. When you get the message, you just decode it with your private key. And if you're worried about the confidentiality of mail, just remember that anyone at the post office could read your mail, as could someone who has access to your mailbox. ethan *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*+*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* ethan miller | elm@ernie.berkeley.edu computer science grad student, uc berkeley | {...}!ucbvax!ernie!elm "In this town it's always earthquake weather." | elm@UCBERNIE.BITNET