Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

WorldLink ideas

Author:Phil Wolff
Posted:9/26/2000; 4:14:47 PM
Topic:WorldLink ideas
Msg #:21758
Prev/Next:21757 / 21759

Dave, I've been putting myself in the shoes of work colleagues from Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim lately. Rather, they've been stuffing me into their shoes.

So, of lessons and observations, which might do world leaders (and the rest of us) some good?

How about that the net will shortly not be dominated by the US. This is both a globalisation and a localization theme. How do you get there?

[insert your ideas here] Encourage your people to "get a cyberlife". Let them tell their stories of everyday life. Web/mail enable your government agencies, your schools, your military, your PTT. Your people have a charm and character and wisdom and knowledge that can be appreciated abroad. Unleash it and your economy will work better.

Writing on the web and email can help solve social ills, sometimes faster and better than governments or NGOs.

[insert your examples here] I'm thinking about how the CDC talks to public health workers around the US, and how they talk with each other exchanging tips and alerts, fighting disease. How fed up mothers in the US used mailing lists, web sites, and phone trees to push the first major firearm controls through a Republican controlled, NRA-backed US congress, and organized a Million Moms March that clinched it. In my case, I'm seeing one of the most active job boards is one operated by the US Department of Labor; free to all, simple, well implemented.

As big as the Internet is in the US, mobile phones are bigger everywhere else.

The biggest barrier to making them powerful tools for social and economic welfare: the carriers' stranglehold on each WAP portal. Regulation and legislation, requiring open access to other providers and to the Internet, can unleash their power. France appears to be leading the way in Europe.

Then there is the fiasco over net coverage of the Olympics, but that might be stale by the time the next WorldLink comes out.

I look forward to your article.



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