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Now We Have the Internet, But Why Do We Need It?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the for-porn-and-video-games-of-course dept.

ReLik writes "BBC News is reporting on a survey carried out on the statistics of internet users in the UK, 'While the battle for digital access is being won, we now face a struggle to convince everyone the net is worth using' said Professor Richard Rose, of the Oxford Internet Institute. It begs the question why goverments around the world are encouraging everyone to use the internet, but is there really enough of a reason for everybody to need to? Is the internet suitable for everybody? Will it ever be?"

6 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. I FAILED IT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Fuck.

  2. Some short answers. by I'm+a+racist. · · Score: -1, Troll
    why goverments around the world are encouraging everyone to use the internet
    This is a good question. I've often wondered it myself. A lot of it seems to be a buzzword driven hype factor. Especially when you consider the legal quagmires that have arisen from it (VoIP competition with CLECs, DRMcopyright, etc). Polititcians just hear that it's cool, and spout the shit they think their constituents (or lobbyists) want to hear, they usually don't know dick themselves.
    is there really enough of a reason for everybody to need to?
    Nope. Plain and simple. I guarantee that the Hilton sisters would live quite well, without ever knowing about the Internet (maybe they don't know). I'm sure there are dirt farmers in Africa that couldn't give half a hairy shit about it, and wouldn't really gain much by using it.
    Is the internet suitable for everybody?
    As above, no.
    Will it ever be?
    Probably not. At least, not directly. Lots of people who don't use the Internet will see benefits that result from other people using it. They, themselves, may never experience any benefit by direct usage.

    Take our jungle-bunny dirt farmer, for example. He will collect more international aid, due to the Internet. Maybe one of the aid workers will let him mess around with a laptop that has a satellite connection. Assuming said dirt farmer can read (and knows a language that doesn't involve clicking), he really won't get anything out of it. Even with some training, he still probably wouldn't get anything out of it.
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    Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
  3. The internet is a failure. by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 0, Troll

    There, the topic ought to be clear enough. And by a failure I mean that it failed to achieve it's objectives. That includes the objectives set by ARPAnet aeons ago, stating the net should be able to survive a nuclear attack. It can barely survive a few badly written worms and it nearly crumbles when a few centralized DNS servers are attacked. It also failed as an academic network, because the internet is 90% bullshit*, 9% dead links and perhaps 1% of actually useful information.

    The internet could use a good hard reset, along with the entire world of computer users.

    * Includes pornography, which may or may not be bullshit, according to your state of mind. Even still, 99% of all porn is shit.

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    Hate me!
  4. Is this a losing battle? by broohaha · · Score: 0, Troll

    It begs the question why goverments around the world are ...

    Aaargghh!!!

  5. Whoo Hoo! by Ezubaric · · Score: 0, Troll

    Somebody used "begs the question" correctly! Way to go, Slashdot!

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    I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
  6. In soviet Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Internet surfs you!