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[sanrico AT highdesert.com]

> I also think that there will come a day when all this good
> stuff in not accessible (but don't dwell on doom and gloom).

> Not doom and gloom, just normal human conditions.

> It is inevitable that information now freely available will become  
> part of web sites that either charge an entrance fee or force the  
> user to watch ads. Much of the rest of the world is following the  
> example of American capitalism and entrepreneurialism.

It strikes me, sadly, if this is the future of the web, that we are poised on 
the
brink of an about-face (how's that for mixing you-know-what's?) - and are now
waltzing backwards?
Logically, information on the web should be becoming more and more accessible 
-
without end...wasn't that the original idea? But, ya know, the guys with 
dollar
signs in their eyes are always also poised - scalping knives in hand - to rid 
of
of our pesky money and our overblown one-world ideas. 
Once the printing press became a 'thing', and folks began to read, the most
wonderfulest happening was the invention of the public library - for free 
(well,
if you don't include the taxes that pay for them).
And radio and TV, if one chooses to watch and listen to the worthwhile 
offerings.
For free. Even Sponge Bob.
Then along came the web - a whole world of wonder and communication and
beyond...and now it's not gonna be free? What the...?
I feel a lot of underground rumblings in my various areas of interest lately.
On the one hand, the highly touted global economy...the idea's still growing
stronger, but only from the corporate bastions (Tree? What tree?).
On the other hand, the noise is growing louder from folks doing the local 
economy
/ local produce / local currency / totally regionalist thing (I root for 
them).
There is an ongoing issue in my 'hood (Mojave Desert) regarding...water. No
surprise, considering where we are. Neighboring communities are having
groundwater problems - as are we - not just a dwindling supply, but the 
quality
of it (think Brockovich / Hinkley). I mentioned in passing that we (property
owners association) ought to be concerned, and that I am a total regionalist 
in
these matters. Response was..."We can't take care of everybody".
Wanna bet?
And, for free.
I wander. Sorry.

Sandy
 

 

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