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    21st Century Ideas: Networking the Offline World

    How do we reach out to people who are not online?

    Started by: maastrictian Raves:20

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    Its a sad fact that a lot of the people that we want all want to reach out to, such as the hungry and the displaced, are not online. What projects are there out there that are looking to extend networks into this world? Call it the ultimate "last mile" problem!

    The question is, how can we extend the sort of massively connected networks that work so well in the online world into the offline world.

    Open Homes ( http://superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/150 ), for instance, is a superstruct which tries to connect privileged people (with network access) to under-privileged ones (without network access). It does this by leveraging existing community structures, like soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and churches, while expanding the capacity of these old support mechanisms dramatically.

    Nomad Markup Language ( http://superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/170 ), takes a different approach. They seek to provide offline users with their own language to let them network in the real world.

    Both of these are great solutions. What other structs have been set up that seek to network the real world?

    This is a really important issue to address! Even folks privileged with network access might lose it at any time. The New Pony Express (http://superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/67) has been working to create a postal system that would serve the world community. We\\\'re leveraging networked mapping to move things around to people in the real world.

    Great idea! Especially important for climate refugees or people whose net access is interrupted by the power struggle bottleneck. I for one would love to see a series of flyers made and posted all over the world about some of these superthreats and superstructures. Perhaps creating a site to share PDFs so we can print and post each others? How many states/countries/cities can we cover in six weeks?

    At the end of the 00s, the OLPC released the XO-1 laptop to provide network connectivity for children without access. It\\\'s a good system, using primitive mesh networking, which means that you only need one laptop with internet access to provide access to all the others. So stop organising, stop coming up with bright ideas, and buy a shed load of them for nomads.

    At the end of the 00s, the OLPC released the XO-1 laptop to provide network connectivity for children without access. It\\\'s a good system, using primitive mesh networking, which means that you only need one laptop with internet access to provide access to all the others. So stop organising, stop coming up with bright ideas, and buy a shed load of them for nomads.

    I\\\'ve actually got one of those things, as well as the XO-2 they came out with a few years later, right before they dissolved. For decades old hardware it works all right, but I have to use a modern mesh dongle, and it\\\'s a pain to connect USB-4 back to USB-2. A modern cell phone is cheaper and has more processing power. however, I do think the solution here is to get those off-line people online. A lot of the advantages of online collaboration exist because of the processing and storage power of computers. You can easily use the new pony express to replace email, but you can\\\'t replicate facebook in a meaningful way IRL. So, the modern cell phone, descended from the Blackberries and Iphones of last decade, are essentially mini-computers already. The Hardware is there. Sure, they can\\\'t run AR or VR, but we don\\\'t need that to do what you want. We just want to get people in the network. I suggest, firstly, getting large amounts of cheap cellphones (you can get a knockoff that has all the features of the old iphone 3 for about a dollar apeice) and then give them away.

    I guess what we really need to do, before we can solve this problem, is ask WHY these people are offline. If it\\\'s a matter of cost of entry, or spotty connection, or displacement, basically if it\\\'s any technological or economic issue, we can fix that and get them online. If it\\\'s a choice, like they\\\'re internet-phobic or it\\\'s against their religion, then we have to ask why again, because maybe the whole point is to aviod these kinds of networked activities.

    Going on the assumption that these people didn\\\'t choose to be online, the best option would be some word of mouth or public information distribution at either a health or food center, since if you can\\\'t afford to get internet or tv, you will probably be going to market or something, even if to just kill boredom or socialize.

    This is such an awesome issue although I think it requires more than supplying equipment. The old proverb of \\\"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.\\\" Most of the problems being faced are socio-economic. You would not only need to provide the equipment but also teach the user how to operate the machine. By conecting them in this simple way how would it make their lives easier. These are people who are more worried about getting a meal than checking who\\\'s posted a new message on their FaceBook wall. The other issues would need to be addressed first before simply providing them with machines. As for going backwards, this seems to me a loss of the leaps of progress made. Humans can not replace the sheer brute commuting power of a computer.

    Even worse, many of the people who might benefit, from \\\"our\\\" point of view, will consider the whole idea of speculations like these silly science fiction fantasyplay. And thats precisely what is wrong with the world today.

    @tarmenel I know where you\\\'re coming from, and we do need to make sure that we do have to help on the socio-economic front. It\\\'s just the online world is so much a part of global society, so much a part of economic structure, so we need to allow everyone in the world the opportunity to take part in it.

    The OLPC didn't quite dissolve. It just changed form. Once people found out that this could set up a wireless telephone system (VoIP), the IP was bought out and it basically morphed into AfricaTel. Of course, a telephone company brings interest from governments - and quite a few governments didn't like it when villagers could be warned that the "tax collectors" (roving brigands who shake down villages, and give the central government a cut in exchange for said government not cracking down on them) were coming. Entire villages picking up and fleeing, taking their mobile warning devices with them, were among the seeds that coalesced into Generation Exile. The smarter of the raiders targeted those mobile warning devices. Most of the dictators in power today are well aware of the potential power of mass communication - and know that, if not tightly controlled, their enemies would use it against them. (Nor is this just an African problem. The ruling powers in China ran smack into this in the 1990s and 2000s - look up Tiananmen Square and Tank Man - and are still dealing with it today, though they export many of their solutions to Africa.) So, a large part of the problem is political.

    @Winged Cat, this problem would also fit into the power struggle dilema, and this networking system needs to be quick and easy to adapt for the average person, but be easily changeable, movable, adaptable to growing political hostility. Would it be a good idea to make this communication system based on being used by old cell phones and obsolete laptops? While it also has the threat of being the easiest to hack for wrong purposes, having a text message or some simple alert system like text messages or automated custom calls with read warnings be the best for this situation?

    if we could just introduce the network to a small area that was offline, other areas aound would eventually realize the potential of being online. then it would eventually become widespread. this is basic understanding of the growth of a trend.

    There are a number of things to do to get people using ICT's more and better... - make sure the infrastructure is OK: low cost PC's, bandwith... Nice experiments all over the place (governments giving tax reductions to low-earners), but no real holistic approaches - software: the tools we currently have on the interweb are not good enough. Too clumsy, not user friendly, the added value is just not good enough. Even this superstruct gamesite is soo awkward to find stuff, see added value, keep track of what 's going on... :-) - education: people HAVE to come into contact with ICT's more and in a better manner in their education. If you can convince a 16 year old that a PC is cool and will help him, you'll have ensured he will try to get one for himself. - VISION! Leadership! Are we sure our own policy makers know what they're doing? What they aim to achieve with e-learning, e-government, e-health...? Is this focused at everybody? At our industry? At the already well-off? Good question! And unfortunately not easily answered...

    FREE UNDERGROUND INTERNET? Check out Superstructure: The ANT project. The ANT project stands for the Airborne Network of Truth. This idea is To create a computer Virus that will spread to many PCs that will allow them to connect to eachother within thier WIFI radius. This establishes a network to spread data information that is completely untapped by our government. Each hotspot will act as an intersection to allow packets of data to exchange. The Data Packs will move up and down the hot spots like ants each with its own destination. In the event of the internet being shut down this will be our only means of communication through PCs.

    The structure I proposed, "Affiliation", (http://www.superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/281) is an "online" solution, but it contains the seeds for offline collaboration as well. A small charge on commercial transactions can fund a telephone service to allow non-computer users to access ubiquitous services as well as new, peer-to-peer and individual-to-organization interaction. This model could be extended to community access points where phone service is not adequate or available.

    The structure I proposed, "Affiliation", (http://www.superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/281) is an "online" solution, but it contains the seeds for offline collaboration as well. A small charge on commercial transactions can fund a telephone service to allow non-computer users to access ubiquitous services as well as new, peer-to-peer and individual-to-organization interaction. This model could be extended to community access points where phone service is not adequate or available.

    The funny thing is the way it works is that someone who IS online has an encounter with a luddite-type and weaves their perspective in anyway




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