Subject: Re: Cultural Preservation

From: "Arthur R. McGee" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 16:14:29 -0800

I forgot to add that you and the other people on this list should never 
let yourselves be seduced by the magic and wonders of the Internet and the 
NII. Contrary to what you see in the traditional press and often, on the 
net itself, there is a lot of activity occurring outside of that realm.

People at the grassroots level are using store-and-forward technologies 
such as Fidonet to accomplish quite a bit. Although real-time, interactive
technologies would be welcomed or preferred, individuals, as they have 
throughout history, will continue to use their resourcefulness and 
ingenuity to accomplish their goals and to get the job done, with or 
without grants, government help, the Internet, or the NII.

In addition, it is always good to have "back-doors" and alternatives, in 
case the promises made do not turn out to be the promises kept.

Peace.

Art McGee [[email-masked]]

"I never would forget that -- that I couldn't have whipped that white man
 as badly with a club as I had with my mind."
                                              Malcolm X

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 16:37:51 -0800

>without grants, government help, the Internet, or the NII.

Nice polemic, Art.

However, I would like to point out that much of the Internet
has nothing to do with grants, government help, or the NII,
and hasn't for years.

>case the promises made do not turn out to be the promises kept.

Indeed.  However, the Internet is so much bigger than anything else and
growing so fast (see the December 1993 Matrix News for sizes and growth
rates) that its importance is increasing.  Users of it and other
networks, such as FidoNet, would do well to work for their vision of
the future of the Matrix before someone else determines it for them.

By the way, this week's Time, Fortune, U.S. News, and last Sunday's New
York Times, and there's no telling who else have pieces of varying
depth and insight (not to mention varying accuracy and precision) on
the Internet or related topics.  When the press jump on a bandwagon,
they all seem to jump together....

Thanks,
John

John S. Quarterman
Matrix Information and Directory Services, Inc. (MIDS)
[email-masked]
+1-512-451-7602
fax: +1-512-452-0127
1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 500W
Austin, TX 78723
U.S.A.

---

From: "Arthur R. McGee" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 17:25:42 -0800

> [stuff deleted]

Agreed. My statement was mostly a response to the sense I have that 
people are pinning their hopes for ubiquitous, world-wide, two-way, 
many-to-many access on governments, corporations, institutions, and people, 
that have betrayed us too many times in the past.

Until such time as the dreamed of networks become as common as the 
telephone, as easy to use as a pencil, as trustworthy as my dog, and as 
safe as masturbation, we would be wise to take a few dollars out of the 
bank, and store them in the mattress.