Modemless Users

Is health care a right?  That  was a hot-button issue in 2008, and much of the angst has boiled over into 2009.  During his campaign, now President Obama spoke whole heartedly about providing health care for the citizens of this nation.  He also spoke about greater government transparency using internet, specifically Web 2.0 products like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.  His campaign even utilized many application used by sites like these.  But, not everyone was involved.  Numerous homeless citizens could not participate in online dialectic over American Policy.  But this is beginning to change.  

"You don't need a TV. You don't need a radio. You don't even need a newspaper," says Mr. Pitts, an aspiring poet in a purple cap and yellow fleece jacket, who says he has been homeless for two years. "But you need the Internet."

The quote above is from a recent Wall Street Journal article by Phred Drorak.  The article shows that the homeless men and woman are finding ways of making their presence online.  Some of the individuals cited in the article are fairly successful bloggers.  But, this raises another issue.  Internet access is limited to people like Mr. Pitts.  They hang around coffee shops and anyplace else with free Wifi.  Some shelters are installing computers with access to the internet.  In light of this, Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing.net made a prediction:

"in five years, a UN convention will enshrine network access as a human right (preemptive strike against naysayers: "Human rights" aren't only water, food and shelter, they include such "nonessentials" as free speech, education, and privacy). In ten years, we won't understand how anyone thought it wasn't a human right."

So, how does this affect usability?  The call for universal connection is increasing around the world.  Rising Voices is an example of such an organization.  You can read about them on my other blog, Drowning Out Silence, and their website.  Programs like One Laptop Per Child are committed to providing disadvantaged youths with laptops and access to the internet (You can also read more discussion about OLPC on Drowning Out Silence).  Many of those laptops have found their way to disadvantaged youths in the U.S.  The point is that access to the internet is becoming less and less exclusive.  Along with this, production on the web is becoming less and less exclusive.  Users in masses are building the digital world through communication and innovation.  This may be a little Marxist but, that is besides the point.  

The point is the individual user now has considerable production power and that power is no longer sitting in middle class suburbs.  It is moving to every nook of humanity seemingly regardless of class, creed, or color.  What will social networking mean in a universal network?  How will copyright be effected in world where production overtakes the product?  How will we create a usable network for a billion people?