Free as in Libraries
The Free Lane on the Information Highway
By Dalton Conley, OP-ED, Published: March 19, 2004
New York Times.
Here is a wonderful idea for the next FCC (when it stops kowtowing to Big Broadcasting and starts remembering that the airwaves belong to the people) and an excellent parallel drawn between public libraries and public airwaves. This could be more than a metaphor; it could be a whole new approach to information .
With the technology known as wireless fidelity, laptop users can get onto the Internet and download e-mail, photos and other electronic files from places once well off the information superhighway Ñ parks, truck stops and cafes, to name a few.
That’s a wonderful thing, but what’s better is that WiFi holds the promise of bridging America’s much discussed digital divide Ñ if we make it ubiquitous and free to use, like the public library system.