Re: Why the Internet? -- second the motion

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Rex Buddenberg wrote:

> The bottom line lesson here runs like this:
>         - get the network done first
>         - do it right
> If you do, the rest of the system design and engineering
> gets a lot easier and the risks of getting it wrong decrease,
> because it's a lot easier to recover.

I agree with those who argue for universal service to individuals;
schools are closed for so many hours every week, not to mention 12 weeks
during the summer!--unless school boards and communities change their
attitudes about the little red school house.

Most of you can tell that I don't know a lot about the nuts and bolts of
delivery systems. In the western states, and probably Alaska or Hawaii,
there are many locations still not wired for POTS.  It is very expensive
to extend phone service to these areas because population density is so
low.  Do the wireless satellite systems represent a solution?

Also, what would be the implications of using an existing system--say
the U.S. Postal system--which serves many remote areas, as a location
for free, or at least inexpensive ($.32), email terminals?  What if the
terminal were like the photocopy machine in the library, or the pay
phone outside the grocery store, or the stamp vending machine in the
lobby of the post office?

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