Howdy,
On Thu, 29 Jun 2000, William Loring wrote:
> How much money do we all have invested in our "free" method of information
> distribution?
Yeah, that's why "free" was in quotes. It's kinda like a mailbox. When
you send a letter, you don't consider the cost of the recipient's mailbox,
'cause basically everyone already has one.
> How long do we need to help the "technological illiterates?" Easy. Until
> they all have the same access that we do. Can you tell me what's wrong with
> _equal_ access to _arguably_ valuable information?
Unfortunately, that's one of those nice things to say that is ultimately
impossible. For instance, what about SCCA members that don't have a
mailbox? Or a phone? Or speak english? At some point you have to assume
that the onus of being able to receive information lies with the recipient
rather than the sender.
Now, it may well be that the web isn't to that point yet. I personally
think that it is, but its not like I don't expect people to disagree with
it. However, in a member driven club you have to take the benefit of the
majority into account. If 70% of the members have web access in one form
or another, I'd say its time to stop relying on the mail system as our
primary communication method.
> One final note. Seeing a map beforehand, or even being the course designer,
> in no way guarantees that you will "read" the course any better than anyone
> else. Maps ahead of time are of dubious value, at best. IMHO, YMMV, and all
> that jazz.
I don't disagree with that in the least. That's one more reason why I
think it shouldn't be a big deal to toss 'em out on the web.
Mark
|