Subject: NetAction Notes No. 41
Audrie Krause (audrie@netaction.org)
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 00:09:45 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 00:09:45 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980909001306.2f17315a@pop.igc.org> To: audrie@netaction.org From: Audrie Krause <audrie@netaction.org> Subject: NetAction Notes No. 41
NetAction Notes
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Published by NetAction Issue No. 41 September 9, 1998
Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
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In This Issue:
Let's "Optimize" Access, Not Profits
Noteworthy
About NetAction Notes
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Let's "Optimize" Access, Not Profits
Internet activists who are committed to promoting universal access to
technology should take note of Intel's "Optimized Content" campaign.
As NetAction discusses in our Virtual Activist training, the way to
"optimize" web sites is to keep the graphics to a minimum so the sites
are accessible to people using older, less powerful computers. The
point is to "optimize" access to the content.
But at Intel, the point of the "Optimized Content" campaign is to
"optimize" the company's profits. Intel is subsidizing some of the
advertising costs for companies that create complicated web sites,
because as web sites become more complex, the demand increases for
more powerful computers.
Companies participating in the Intel campaign put an "Optimized Content"
logo on their sites, which links to a message telling users that the site
would work better if they were using a Pentium II. According to a recent
report in the San Francisco Examiner, participating sites include Wired
Digital, C/Net, Ziff-Davis, and CMP Media.
"Intel's 'Optimized Content' campaign makes a mockery of the word
'optimized,'" explains NetAction Advisory Board member Jeff Johnson.
"The term usually refers to software that has been tuned to run
*quickly*. Intel is using 'optimized' to mean web-software that runs
annoyingly *slowly*, to encourage users to buy faster computers."
What Intel is encouraging web-designers to do runs counter to what they
know: web users have no patience with web sites that download or execute
slowly.
"If your web site doesn't give users the information they want in a few
seconds, they hit the Stop or Back button and are out of there," Jeff
explained. "There are so many web sites that there is no reason why
anyone needs to hang around yours if it makes them wait. So Intel's
advice is bad advice: web developers who follow it will lose many
potential visitors."
This is especially important for Internet activists using the web for
outreach, organizing, and advocacy, since widespread accessibility is
the best way to get information to the people you want it to reach. And
widespread accessibility is best achieved by keeping web sites simple.
Easy access is also important in promoting universal access, because
there are a lot of people who can only afford access by using older,
less powerful computers connecting to the Internet with older, slower
modems.
While the Intel "Optimized Content" program may be in Intel's
short-term interest, Jeff believes it is strategically bad for the
computer industry. "Maybe technology freaks like to keep up with the
latest technology and constantly upgrade their computers, but most
people hesitate to buy a computer they know will be obsolete within two
years," he explained. "A much larger market awaits the computer company
that can develop information appliances that retain their value over a
period of five to ten years, like TVs, microwave ovens, and stereos."
Again, this is even more important in terms of promoting universal access.
Jeff noted that Microsoft Executive Nathan Myhrvold once said "Software
is a gas. It expands to fill the size of its container."
As Jeff sees it, "This is already an annoyance, but Intel is taking it
one step further: They are using software as an explosive to blow up our
computers so we'll have to buy new ones, which they happen to make."
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Noteworthy
The Billion Byte March <http://www.march.org> makes creative use of
technology to promote changes to the Social Security system intended
to ensure its continued viability. Sponsored by Third Millennium and
Economic Security 2000 Action, the nonpartisan project is described as
the first-ever Internet march on Washington.
Reprorights is a new list aimed at educating and informing pro-choice
groups and individuals concerned about threats to women's reproductive
rights. Because the list is *not* a forum for debate on the abortion
issue, participation is limited to subscribers who support a woman's
right to choose. Subscribe at:
<http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/reprorights>.
If you're writing to the entire House of Representatives, you can
download mailing labels at:
<http://clerkweb.house.gov/mbrcmtee/mbrcmtee.htm>. The labels can be
downloaded in WordPerfect or Word formats for the PC, or as ascii text.
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About NetAction Notes
NetAction Notes is a free electronic newsletter, published by NetAction
to promote effective grassroots organizing on the Internet. NetAction
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public, policy makers, and the media about technology-based social and
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For more information about contributing to NetAction, or sponsoring this
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NetAction * 601 Van Ness Ave., No. 631 * San Francisco, CA 94102
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Copyright 1998 by NetAction/The Tides Center. All rights reserved.
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