Subject: Re: Markle initiative for universal e-mail
Peter Marshall (rocque@eskimo.com)
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 11:28:33 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 11:28:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Peter Marshall <rocque@eskimo.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <roundtable@cni.org> Subject: Re: Markle initiative for universal e-mail In-Reply-To: <01IVZ5CJZAN68Y6GWP@bentley.edu> Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.96.980417111917.6574C-100000@eskimo.com>
On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, Coralee Whitcomb <cwhitcom@bentley.edu> wrote:
>
> Mary asked about the literacy issue with regard to our experience at
> Virtually Wired. My guess is that if a literacy problem existed, we
> would not see it because the visitor would not call attention to it.
> Software is being developed by Allan Shaw that accomodates for
> literacy problems in email. He's created networks in rough inner
> city neighborhoods which have resulted in very surprising, postive
> results in community empowerment. Email does not have to mean long
> distance. It can be a very effective local medium.
>
> We've found at VW Web browsing is not the hook that keeps them coming back.
> It's email, newsgroups, and chat. Pretty pictures look a lot like TV and
> magazines after a while - interaction is forever new. Thank goodness for
> services like Hotmail and Juno. We can't provide email accounts on our
> server but we have many people who expect to do email on their first
> visit. With these services it's not a problem.
This is by no means really responsive to the very relevant inquiry as
to literacy. At best, this seems to suggest there may be some tech
fix out there by way of addressing this question, while curiously waving
yet again the already thin and unacceptably vague flag of "community
empowerment." All for it, but what is it? As Craig Johnson very
properly pointed out, there's a good bit of uncovering of political
thinking to be done here, and it's not the time or place for promos...
Peter Marshall
<rocque@eskimo.com>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a16 : Tue Mar 23 1999 - 03:33:24 EST