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Internet for All

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Re: Internet for All

#11

Post by thaumasiotes »

StavrosK wrote: post #6
benten10 wrote: post #5

There's something I've been wondering lately. The concept of modern 'social' internet, to me, seems to presume that the majority of the users share at least some core liberal values of acceptance of a diverse set of ideas, and respect for other individuals, as they are, and assumes that the society is at least reasonably peaceful and stable. What happens when the internet comprises mostly of individuals whose don't s…

How many Chinese people do you come across on the internet right now? How many Japanese? How many Russian? Nations on the internet are segregated by language. Learning the language of a country (or a few countries) usually means that you learn about their culture as well, so communicating won't be such a big shock.

> How many Chinese people do you come across on the internet right now? How many Japanese? How many Russian?

> Nations on the internet are segregated by language.

This is true as far as it goes, but I don't really run into British, Australian, or even Canadian people either. Language may not be the primary factor.

Re: Internet for All

#12

Post by thaumasiotes »

Animats wrote: post #3

There are 96 cell phone subscriptions per 100 people in the world. Most of those have at least some minimal Internet capability. It's just that not all can view cat videos yet.

How many of those cell phone subscriptions share the same person?

Re: Internet for All

#13

Post by mrec »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #11
StavrosK wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many Chinese people do you come across on the internet right now? How many Japanese? How many Russian? Nations on the internet are segregated by language. Learning the language of a country (or a few countries) usually means that you learn about their culture as well, so communicating won't be such a big shock.

> How many Chinese people do you come across on the internet right now? How many Japanese? How many Russian? > Nations on the internet are segregated by language. This is true as far as it goes, but I don't really run into British, Australian, or even Canadian people either. Language may not be the primary factor.

> I don't really run into British, Australian, or even Canadian people either

How do you know you don't? It's not like we (I'm British) type with an accent.

Re: Internet for All

#14

Post by pogden »

bobajeff wrote: post #2

This is the first time I've heard about the SpaceX, OneWeb and Yakiny low orbit small satellite constellation projects. It says they could allow for viable low latency, high bandwidth satellite internet. It sounds to me like the coverage of such constellations would allow for a satilite phone to actually deliver on the promise of working anywhere around the globe.

Iridium works anywhere on earth, it's just expensive.

Re: Internet for All

#15

Post by thaumasiotes »

mrec wrote: post #13
thaumasiotes wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many Chinese people do you come across on the internet right now? How many Japanese? How many Russian? > Nations on the internet are segregated by language. This is true as far as it goes, but I don't really run into British, Australian, or even Canadian people either. Language may not be the primary factor.

> I don't really run into British, Australian, or even Canadian people either How do you know you don't? It's not like we (I'm British) type with an accent.

You can type with an accent. Brits have various vocabulary, spelling, and idiom differences that might give them away (although to be fair, I probably wouldn't recognize a specifically British idiom if I saw it).

There are two points here: (1), I don't interact with very many people on the internet. I certainly don't use it to meet new people. And (2), I don't look for content aimed at (e.g.) an English audience. I read a large number of different bloggers, but it seems to have worked out that they're American. (John Derbyshire is English, but has lived in the US for years, and as far as I know has no intention to leave. Does he count?)

Re: Internet for All

#16

Post by vignanv8 »

benten10 wrote: post #5

There's something I've been wondering lately. The concept of modern 'social' internet, to me, seems to presume that the majority of the users share at least some core liberal values of acceptance of a diverse set of ideas, and respect for other individuals, as they are, and assumes that the society is at least reasonably peaceful and stable. What happens when the internet comprises mostly of individuals whose don't s…

I would suggest you to watch this TED talk by Prof. Steven Pinker on Violence: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violen...

As he rightly points out, in anthropological time-scale, violence has been declining and our circle of empathy has been expanding. We are now concerned about what is happening inside the country (and sometimes outside it) unlike previously when our line of sight was mostly restricted to the village, clan or the tribe.

Secondly, he points at we building better political and social structures. And the bedrock for this phenomenon is free access to information. Internet by its very nature is decentralized unlike traditional sources of media. Although poorly conceived regulations sometimes threaten its independence, it is still the best source of free speech. Disruptive technologies like printing press have had significant impact on 15th-16th century society by democratizing knowledge. And as some may argue, it may have created conditions for important movements such as renaissance and reformation.

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