TakingITGlobal - Panorama - The Digital Divide

Published on: Nov 13, 2007

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=16919

Hi Kids! I've been on and off the WWW since 1995. Before we allowed Microsoft and Windows to cut into our fun, we were young computer Geeks who furtively used our local telephone systems to run our computer BBS programs free of charge. We paid nothing to run our computers! Zero! Zilch! Nada! Bell did not know we existed until the day we finally outgrew our secret!
Once Microsoft and the WWW came into the picture, the jig was up! Today, the digital divide is created by the large profit seeking multi-national corporations who force us, almost on a yearly bases, to buy expensive computers and computer programs simply by changing the speed, the frequency and the baud rate of their so called "new" computers.
You kids don't have to fall for it! Find one standard and force the ISP's to keep that standard. Use free programs. Stay away from animated advertising and Web sites filled with advertising, even if they look tempting! Don't buy anything on the internet because if we commercialize the WWW, we stand to all lose our Web Neutrality! The corporations will convert our computers into digital Television monitors and they will hinder and remove our ability to communicate. They want passive "consumers' and certainly not free thinking individuals!
Corporations want you to pay big bucks for nothing more then a change in frequency, color settings and baud rate. Today's computer programs are often expensive clones of the ones we used and copied by the millions in 1995. In fact, we had more fun in 1995 when Windows 95 was the best and easiest program to use. It still works great but it was buried by Microsoft because it was too free and easy to use. Everybody copied the code until Microsoft finally gave it away and then brought out their Win 98 disaster! They also changed the FAT or file allocation tables to prepare for better HTML based programs and color. Why? They were and still are chasing the advertising dollars. The trouble started when Microsoft brought people to court for copyright infringement. The fact is, Microsoft used thousands of free and fun loving young programmers to create computer programs, and then Microsoft incorporated these smaller programs into their larger operating systems. The larger programs were then copyrighted and protected in court!
Today, we have to pay for cable or phone lines and for computer ISP providers as well as for Web Sites and computer programs. So called updated versions of the same programs we had free ten years ago! Today we have to pay for the privilege of going online. I remember when we used the underground electronic bulletin board group or BBS system and we had more fun talking to local friends then we have today talking to the whole world.

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by Joseph Raglione
Published on: Nov 13, 2007
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=16919


Hi Kids! I've been on and off the WWW since 1995. Before we allowed Microsoft and Windows to cut into our fun, we were young computer Geeks who furtively used our local telephone systems to run our computer BBS programs free of charge. We paid nothing to run our computers! Zero! Zilch! Nada! Bell did not know we existed until the day we finally outgrew our secret! Once Microsoft and the WWW came into the picture, the jig was up! Today, the digital divide is created by the large profit seeking multi-national corporations who force us, almost on a yearly bases, to buy expensive computers and computer programs simply by changing the speed, the frequency and the baud rate of their so called "new" computers. You kids don't have to fall for it! Find one standard and force the ISP's to keep that standard. Use free programs. Stay away from animated advertising and Web sites filled with advertising, even if they look tempting! Don't buy anything on the internet because if we commercialize the WWW, we stand to all lose our Web Neutrality! The corporations will convert our computers into digital Television monitors and they will hinder and remove our ability to communicate. They want passive "consumers' and certainly not free thinking individuals! Corporations want you to pay big bucks for nothing more then a change in frequency, color settings and baud rate. Today's computer programs are often expensive clones of the ones we used and copied by the millions in 1995. In fact, we had more fun in 1995 when Windows 95 was the best and easiest program to use. It still works great but it was buried by Microsoft because it was too free and easy to use. Everybody copied the code until Microsoft finally gave it away and then brought out their Win 98 disaster! They also changed the FAT or file allocation tables to prepare for better HTML based programs and color. Why? They were and still are chasing the advertising dollars. The trouble started when Microsoft brought people to court for copyright infringement. The fact is, Microsoft used thousands of free and fun loving young programmers to create computer programs, and then Microsoft incorporated these smaller programs into their larger operating systems. The larger programs were then copyrighted and protected in court! Today, we have to pay for cable or phone lines and for computer ISP providers as well as for Web Sites and computer programs. So called updated versions of the same programs we had free ten years ago! Today we have to pay for the privilege of going online. I remember when we used the underground electronic bulletin board group or BBS system and we had more fun talking to local friends then we have today talking to the whole world. « return.