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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Gene GeRue wrote:

> I think much of the Internet will remain free. The price is a  
> computer and connection plus time. Yes, entrepreneurs will try to  
> lure us to use their sites and pay for the privilege, but I think  
> huge international competition will keep it under control.

It's not just the entrepreneurs, it's all the other stuff like the iPod 
craze and music downloads that interconnect things.  Soon, manufacturers 
will no longer ship manuals at all, it'll be extra cost download.  You 
won't be able to walk in anywhere and pay bills the old fashioned way, 
it will *have* to be done electronically.  Already, the IRS is moving 
that way for tax filings.  It's all coming to a merge of technologies 
and uses and central to everything is the computer.  Everyone assumes 
that everyone else has one already, and that everyone connects at the 
same speed, has the same software, etc.  IMO, the computer is becoming 
more of a tool for mass unification to get everyone on the same 
wavelength, with the same knowledge, with the same requirements...it's a 
cascading domino effect and the first domino has already been pushed 
over.  For me, it's only a matter of time before I opt out of the game, 
I think.

B

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the 
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.