Subject: Re: NYT Article - E-mail for Everyone
Mary G Jones (mgjones@cqi.com)
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 09:02:48 -0400
Message-Id: <199804171204.IAA32441@raptor.cqi.com> From: "Mary G Jones" <mgjones@cqi.com> To: <roundtable@cni.org> Subject: Re: NYT Article - E-mail for Everyone Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 09:02:48 -0400
On Thu, April 16, 1998, Steven Clift <clift@publicus.net> wrote:
>
> Greetings. An article in the New York Times Cybertimes on April
> 11, 1998 provided an excellent overview of the Markle Foundation's
> E-Mail for All outreach campaign.
>
> The article, "Studies Explore Possibilities of E-mail for Everyone,"
> by Rebecca Fairley Raney, is available, along with numerous
> articles, conference reports, and studies, from the EMFA site at:
>
> http://www.iaginteractive.com/emfa/
>
> Questions or comments about the E-Mail for All may be sent to the
> International Advisory Group via e-mail at: iaclaa@aol.com
> Or contact us via telephone at: 212.268.1443
>
>
> Included below is a useful summary of the article from the Benton
> Foundation's news service:
>
> Title: Studies Explore the Possibilities of E-Mail for Everyone
> Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
> Author: Rebecca Fairley Raney
> Issue: E-Mail
>
> Description: The John & Mary R. Markle Foundation, a philanthropic
> organization in New York, is investing millions to explore the
> possibilities of a society that provides email for everyone. Since
> 1994, the foundation has explored related issues by funding major
> studies at Rand, Bellcore, Carnegie Mellon Univ., and the Brookings
> Institute, and through the use of surveys and roundtable discussions.
> Some of the issues explored include: the foundation of friendships in
> cyberspace, community development online, and the obstacles and
> benefits of computer literacy becoming part of the school curriculum.
> "The objective is to create a national dialogue about universal email
> access, an idea predicted by findings of a Rand study that said
> universal access will not happen without social intervention." "The
> goal is not to predict what will happen, but to encourage uses to
> enhance a democratic society. Why be passive? We're hoping to have
> people thoughtfully inspire uses," said Zoe Baird, the president of
> the Markle Foundation. The thinking behind the Markle Foundation's
> initiative goes "that if the government and corporate sectors provide
> better services online, the gap between 'haves' and 'have-nots' will
> be more likely to close." Catherine Gay, a principal in the
> International Advisory Group in New York, a publishing company that
> is coordinating roundtables and publicity for the foundation's
> thinking, said, "They're trying to prevent a society with an
> underclass."
I have just read the Rebecca Raney article on the Markel foundation
E mail initiative but it seems only to confirm earlier impressions of
the program. Raney writes that the national dialogue is meant to
stimulate the private sector and government to "provide better services
on line". This assumes that everyone is on line which is clearly not
the case. It is my understanding that the 40% computer penetration
figure has to be further reduced in terms of those computers with
modems which enable users to go on line. So the computer users today
are not much more than 25% of the population. We don't need to spend
millions of dollars to improve services for such a small elite segment
of the population. We need to encourage technology to produce simpler
access devices, the affordability of voice recognition and
infrastructure to facilitate video communciations which is the way most
of us communciate naturally and easily. When audio video communciations
are possible, Markle is exactly right that then we have a potential
universal service which needs to be encourage. At that point it may not
need much encouragement. I would be interested in Markel's response to
tell us more about its ideas and hopes and dreams as clearly Markle of
all foundations is sensitive to the needs of the have nots which are the
subject of this discussion.
Mary G. Jones
<mgjones@cqi.com>
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