***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Mon, 4 Oct 1999 13:13:30 +0200
   [From]: "Ami Isseroff" <ami_iss@netvision.net.il>
     [To]: "Cultural Exchange via Internet" <forum1@herz.kbx.de>
[Subject]: Re: [forum1] Re: The Shrinking Web and What to Do About it

Hi,
The material below gives important examples of how the net can be used to further good causes - and also shows that t can be effective even in countries that do not have much telecom substrate.

It is true that most people are not wired. Most people are not political either - but it is not the whole story.

The low figures RE web usage outside Europe and U.S. are misleading - because in places where it is low, it is often journalists and students and educators who have e-mail and Web access - if there is something to be said they get the word out.

In the Middle East there is a program called schoolsonline that will eventually bring the Web to every school  (we hope!).

In Palestine and Jordan people make extensive use of internet cafe's to gain Web access.

It is important to see things for what they are, rather than pasting labels and substituting rhetoric for reason. There is no denying that the Web is not for the uneducated - but the totally uneducated usually do not bring about social change. It is usually the middle class that brings about change. This is true of the Communist revolutions as well as the French and USAn ones.

We can see from the examples that the Web can help against local persecution and fundamentalism. We can also see that Web use can be built in the most adverse conditions!

It is a fact that Web use and development is banned, harrassed and regulated mostly in countries that have exremely repressive regimes.

Eventually, the Web will be available in local languages, through spoken media as well as written, and with satellite transmission, prices will come tumbling down.  It will be a kind of interactive poor man's television - and it will certainly serve a mass audience.
In 2-3 years, the majority of Web users will probably be outside the US - and eventually outside Europe too. There should be as many as 700 million users by around 2003 - less than a majority, but an important minority. That web will have a vast amount of "trash" on it. Teen sex photos will always be more popular than social struggles - human nature.  It will also often a small channel of communication that we must know how to exploit.
Best Regards to all,
Ami