From Dan.Eddleman@lambada.oit.unc.edu Thu Mar 18 10:15:15 1993
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Subject: Durham Herald-Sun Editorial on Triangle Freenet 
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 10:14:42 EST
From: Dan Eddleman <Dan.Eddleman@lambada.oit.unc.edu>
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> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> THE HERALD-SUN, DURHAM, N. C.                      SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1993
> 
> 
>                                PUBLIC COMPUTER NETWORKS
> 
>                                  Little bits of change
> 
>    Public computer networks, such as Triangle Freenet now being developed for
> our region, may change radically and forever the way we communicate with
> governments, businesses, schools and one another.
> 
>   Public networks are emerging in such places as Cleveland, Ohio, Peoria,
> Ill., and Santa Monica, Calif. One of the more ambitious projects is City Net
> in Cupertino, Calif., home of Apple Computer and Tandem Computers. City Net
> will allow anyone with a computer, modem, a phone line and supporting
> software costing $20 to tap into a "hub" computer. Eventually  City Net users
> will have direct access from their homes or offices to information about the
> city's services, laws and meetings.
> 
>   They can send messages to town officials, apply for permits and make
> reservations. They can also view library listings, get information from an
> array of data bases and post announcements on electronic bulletin boards.
> Parents can read school files where they can learn their children's current
> homework assignments, arrange conferences, or conduct electronic discussions
> with teachers and their children.
> 
>   Locally the Public Information Network (PIN), a nonprofit organization in
> Chapel Hill, began a volunteer effort in the fall to establish Triangle
> Freenet in Research Triangle Park. Initially PIN plans to provide electronic
> mail, discussion groups, access to public data bases, a community questions
> and answer service, and contact with schools.
> 
>   The prospect of direct access to practical information stored far more
> conveniently than that jumble of papers in your center desk drawer is
> compelling. Our society becomes more laden with information daily.  Rules and
> procedures are more complex -- and more volatile. Computer networks can help
> us to keep up, sort it out, verify information and communicate efficiently.
> 
>   But for all their virtues, networks have pitfalls and limits.
> Misinformation can be spread as far and as quickly as correct information.
> Electronic mail can encourage bad manners and obscure prose. An some people
> become so addicted to electronic "interfaces" that they avoid personal
> contacts.
> 
>   None of these are reasons to discourage public networks. They're just
> reminders that new technologies, even those that can make our lives better,
> demand new understandings of how they affect us -- and that no technology is
> a substitute for human contact and good sense.
> 


