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“This is great, and I hope to see more stories like this in the future. Why can’t the government do this sort of thing?” - Ernie the Attorney on wireless hotspots in low-income housing.

The TeleRead take: I’m thinking of the speed of Wi-Fi and looking back to the time when people told me that e-books would never work out because modems weren’t fast enough. And talk about a way to reach low income people who may not even have reliable phone service (perhaps because they’ve skipped a payment)!

Other details from CNN–about the Boston-area experiment: “Now that Camfield’s Internet provider has ended its two-year commitment to offer discounted cable modem access, the project’s organizers will soon give residents the option of replacing their wired Internet access with a wireless connection.

“The high-speed WiFi system transmits and receives data from four barely visible antennas atop the development’s main building.

“Residents can buy wireless cards for their desktops or laptops. The cards, which can cost up to $100 retail, will be given away to the elderly and sold for $60 to others.”

And the usefulness of the experiment? Rather evident already. “A resident poll found that virtually all participants used the computers to read news, learn about health and housing, or to shop online. Several said they were training to become Web designers, programmers and network administrators.”

Oh my God, what would Cliff Stoll think? Remember Silicon Snake Oil? Sure the Net got hyped up, it’s not a world-saver, but as the CNN piece shows, innovative technology can be a veritable life-changer for the poor.

 
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