Internet: Knowledge and Community

at The Evergreen State College

Shaping the Internet

From Internet: Knowledge and Community

Jump to: navigation, search

The Internet is probably still in its infancy. In the short number of years since it has been available to the public, it has experienced enormous growth and the rise and fall of various applications, fortunes, and paradigms. Coupled with a unprecedented growth in mobile (and "smart") telephone use around the world, a new global communications infrastructure is being developed that is ubiquitous, programmable, multiway, multimodal, and fast.

Although technology is often assumed to be designed and implemented by specially trained technologists in the employ of large corporations (and, hence, not subject to the ideas or wishes of non-specialists), "ordinary" people are active in the ongoing evolution of the Internet.
  • What forces are shaping the Internet?
  • How can people make an impact?
  • Who is responsible to teach others how to access the internet?
  • What programs are available for people who people who want internet access but can't afford it?

"Ordinary" people have made a big impact in shaping the internet. It has come along way and people have made it what it is today. For those who want and choose to learn more about the internet, I feel it is their responsibility to take upon themselves to learn how to access the internet. If they truly want to they will find ways to learn. These days almost everyone knows how to access the internet, so it wouldn't be so hard to ask someone for help. In schools it should be the teachers responsibility to teach the younger generation how to access the internet. With more and more computer classes being incorporated into childrens' curriculum this will teach them at an early age.




Back to Main Page