Re: Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?

[Stanton McCandlish <mech@eff.org>]

[Re: tv as basic service, but data not]

> Data may become a basic service, some day, but the market is not
> ready for it today.
> 
> I am against forcing companies to offer products that no one wants.
> (no one = a major part of there market).

I'd say that the 30%+ of US households with computers, and the 10%+ (and
VERY rapidly growing) with modems is "a major part" of the market.  Far
fewer people had phones once upon a time, and even fewer had cable tv
boxes a decade ago.

Or to put it in a format that advertisers will understand: when my
grandmother, who can't even set the clock on her VCR, is inflamed with
the desire to particpate in internet, simply from reading the articles on
it, and gets ready to buy a Mac and subscribe to AOL, despite a good deal
of technophobia, I think you've got a market brewing. 

-- 
Stanton  McCandlish  mech@eff.org  1:109/1103   EFF  Online  Activist & SysOp
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