Wiring Isn't Enough

          Not so long ago, the future looked like this: The spread
        of computer networking would lead to a global village,
        where people would share a common culture,
        information would be free and everyone would be an
        information-have. The Net would pull everyone
        together, and erase the imbalances between rich and
        poor, First World and Third, North and South. On the
        Net, no one knows if you're Hungarian or African,
        whether you wear sandals or Guccis, drive a Porsche
        or ride a camel.

        Needless to say, that hasn't happened. That earlier
        vision was colored more by satellite television
        wrapping the planet in CNN and MTV than by the
        two-way interactivity of the Internet. The Net reflects
        local culture and is built on active participation by
        people everywhere; it doesn't simply beam the same
        stuff impartially all over the world. It offers the same
        thing to everyone, everywhere -- those who are
        connected, anyway. But then it's up to individuals to
        make use of it. And that's where the gaps are still
        great.

        Of course, amazing stories abound. American
        inner-city kids who get onto the Net and out of the
        ghetto -- or stick around and use it to make things
        better. And there are my friends in Central Europe and
        Russia, who arrange programming gigs by e-mail and
        start up Web sites with no capital.

        But you can't just give people access to information
        and expect to change anything meaningfully. The
        industrial-age equivalent would be distributing
        machinery with no source of power. Education is the
        crucial ingredient to actually using the Net's free
        content and redistributed knowledge. And spreading
        learning around is far more difficult -- not to mention,
        expensive -- than simply wiring schools. Especially in
        places that are poor and poorly educated -- most of
        Africa, for instance, a continent with fewer Net
        connections than many U.S. cities.

        Eastern Europeans, by contrast, are by and large
        well-educated. They may be disadvantaged by
        geography, by recent history and by the chaotic
        surrounding culture But once they manage to fight
        their way onto the Net they can hold their own.
        Formidable barriers remain -- language, infrastructure,
        even the modest capital needed to operate online.
        Even so, it's easier to join the information economy
        from Moscow than, from, say, a disadvantaged home
        in Appalachia. Let alone a tin-roofed shack on the
        outskirts of Lima.

        But especially for people long cut off from mainstream
        global culture, the attraction is overwhelming. Those
        of us in the West can easily forget how magical this
        system is. In North America or Western Europe, there
        are many way to get whatever information you want,
        with or without the Internet. But in Tashkent or Tallin
        or even Moscow itself, the Net may be literally the
        only source. And things like slow access or bad
        connections are a minor inconvenience compared with
        waiting weeks or months for a book or precious
        document -- or simply not being able to get some
        crucial piece of information at all.

        I started using e-mail in 1989, not to communicate
        with other leading-edge people in the United States -- I
        could get them easily enough by telephone -- but to
        exchange messages with programmers and budding
        businessmen I had met in Russia. I remember when a
        man called Leo Tomberg in Estonia established the
        first connection between Russia's then-UUCP network
        and the Internet, via a gateway in Finland. It was like a
        hole in a dike, and information rushed through... in
        both directions.

        Today that same pent-up desire describes millions of
        people living on the margins of global civilization, and
        yearning to be a part of the bigger world. The Internet
        is a ladder that can get them there -- but only for those
        who can figure out how to climb.
 
 

       Esther Dyson, who chairs the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is the
          president of EDventure Holdings, and co-founder of Poland Online.
 

</my.e-Life?

The above essay was writen by Esther Dyson as an introducction to a global photo journalism project codename 24hrs in Cyberspace.which took place on 8th Feb,1996.The website is at http://www.cyber24.comYou can check its Digital Cave and try to look for  my name!It is not a joke-I did register.Anyway,let me get on with my 'cara bicara' essay that has some connection with what was said by Esther Dysan above.She was talking global and here, I am talking local ...and somtimes personal.
 

The e-thingy is creeping into our life,like it or not.We have both extremes-a small percentage are pure luddites and the other  small percentage who  are wired to the teeth. The bell curve still applies to distribution pattern.
I know I am 'addicted' to Internet when I became restless at my kampung(Malay word for village) without a  computer to check my emails.Don't worry,I am still  'low'-with my feet on the this earth.Only when I am online that I may be lost in cyberspace for a few hours, travelling all over the world at the speed of light.Now,Bill Gates coined a new word -at the speed of thought! .So far,I manage to to come back to planet earth in one piece.Lately,I observed that my fishmonger, who comes to my house everyday ,carries a mobile phone! He too, needs to be connected to Selayang Pasar Borong to know the latest fish prices,;like some of us wanted to be wired to KLSE .Now,it appears that every businessman in town  is connected! Of course,some are more 'connected' than others.Just like equality-all men  are equals,but a few are more equal than others.I think you got what I mean?

Back in 1965 when I was removed from my kampung and being sent to a boarding school in Tanjung Malim,I got my first opportunity to make a phone call.I was shivering- scared to use it! A simple procedure like lifting the phone,hearing the dial tone,putting the coins and dial a number sounded very complicated to me then.What do you expect from a kampung boy who never uses a phone in his life!Now,it is different.While travelling in the car one weekend a few months back,my eleven years old son just took my mobile phone and used it to call his friend.When I asked him whether he knows how to use it,he said yes.But I never taught him how to use a mobile phone before.When I asked who taught him and he replied ,it was me.He actually learnt by watching me making a call.Now,I have to be careful what I am doing.You  never can  tell who is watching;-)

Now,I feel we have ALL the personal communication tools that we ever need at our disposal-telephone,fax, pager,email,pdas etc.I do not wish to sound like Mr Watson of IBM who said that the world only need four computers and now we have Bill Gates and Steve Jobs putting a computer on everyone's desktop and everyone's pocket.Somehow,I feel like shouting that we have enough of these gizmos-no more all these gadgets,please!.I want to be off-line!However,I still carry my mobile phone.It is because when I go to the public phone,it is either someone is making a call or the phone is out of order.Now,I am stuck with a Nokia 3210 and palm3-every wherever  I go.What puzzled me most is when I saw a business friend of mine who  carries two mobile phones?The next time I meet him,I am going to ask for a draw-just like in a cow-boy film!

The  e-thingy is changing how we communicate,live and work.While I was in Jakarta four years ago,I left my mobile phone on all the time.(But when I went to London a month ago,I refused to carry my mobile phone-it will cost me a fortune if someone calls).And when my wife called me in Jakarta,I felt as if I was talking to her like I was in KL.I feel connected to my family even I am overseas.That is great for the family, but sometimes it can be a nuisance when you do not wish to be disturbed.Looking at the numbers of teenagers carrying their mobile phones around,I think by the time we arrived at the year 2020, everyone is having one-with the exception of those who cannot talk yet!Now the phones are not  only for talking-sms messages can be sent from one to the other.Next is the WAP phones where we can use our mobile phone to access the Internet.Looking at the future business potential of telcos,I am seriosly saving money to buy shares in companies that provide wireless phone or technology.

JARING,our first ISP started in early 90's.I can't remember the date,but I still remember the date I registered with Jaring.It was 21st July,1995.It was really great then.It is just like driving my car along Jalan Tuanku Ab. Rahman during Hari Raya!No traffic jams at all-easy to connect and faster download.Now,it is like Jalan Tuanku Ab. Rahman on Saturday afternoon-multiple disconnections and data congestion!The thing that really hooked me on the Internet is the email.I love to send letters to my friends but only five of them have email addresses at that time.By the way,I have one success story to tell is that on 14th  August,1998 I set up a mailinglist for my alma mater-SDAR. Now,it has more than 300 alumni online with a monthly average of more than 1000 emails!I felt so happy that I managed to connect back to old friends that I have not met more than 20 years.I think and hope tha my other friends feel the same way.

Besides using ICT for personal communication and online community,two years ago I managed to incorporate IT in the my business of water quality monitoring.Every hour,the aqualab(name of equipment) measure 10 water parameters and these data are sent to the treatment plant,the head office of the water company and to DOE.Now,we can get data every hour,24hrs a day.Just compare that with five years ago-it took weeks, sometimes. Now,a friend of mine is working on a software to transfer the date via satellite!Next I am going to put a web camera at my mother's kitchen so that I can see her anytime I want.Now,I am putting my own mother on the web!

In November,1996 I visited a friend who was doing a Top Management Course at Harvard Business School.Even though he was 12-time zones away for three months,he was in touch practically every day  with his organisation.I believed he  made all major decisons for his organisation via emails with his key personnels.

May I ask you to visit and explore the 24hrs in Cyberspace website as mentioned above.It has much more interesting stories how people use this IT stuff.Thank God life is getting more intersting with IT-for those who know how to use it..

Another observation that I wish to note is the political websites that arised from Anwar and Mahathir saga.The Anwar's supporters really made full use of them.Now ,websites and mailinglists are alternative news and discussion resources for the people who have Internet access.One night when I called my friend via his handphone,he was attending a PAS political rally.He kept the handphone on for a minute so that I could listen to a fiery speech by a speaker attacking the policy of the government..

I dare say that we are going to have limitless applications of the ICT.The only limit is our own imagination and creativity.However,I dare not forecast what changes are going to take place in our society as a result of these information and communication technologies in the next ten  years. Technology is a two sided-blade-it cuts both ways-good or bad.We, the users have to decide how and when to use it.The radio,TV and telephone have created so much change in our life in the 70's and 80's-some are good and some are bad.I am sure we all will  not be spared of the impacts of Internet and mobile phones in the coming decades. I hope that the nation leaders/ planners  must learn from the previous mistakes so that these technologies will not dictate how we should live our life,rather it should be WE  harnessing these communication technologies to live a better life- a more meaningful Life .Technology may rule to-day,but tomorrow belongs to the human spirit./>

ps:I read the newspaper report that our PM Dr Mahathir was saying that the e-commerce is the developed world method of dominating the third world?To me the first world will dominate the third world-with whatever means at their disposal.I would rather focus on what we can do for our selves.