I can't claim to be an expert on the technical and political challenges of a citizen built, ad hoc network -- there's all kinds of regulatory crap that governments and/or corrupt corporations can use to crush this sort of thing.
Yet as time marches on we're seeing a whole generation of technology coming into the realm of the hobbyist, and when I read Make magazine I can't help but wonder what sort of cool, maker/inventor inspired gadgets might arise over the next few years to challenge the status quo. Such as exactly the sort of gadgets you're describing. :)
I think such ad hoc free networks would end up being the back roads of the Internet, never replacing the primary internet (or even its private subnets) but augmenting and supporting them.
As far as clean water and free laptops in the Third World, they're noble endeavors and obviously they will help to some degree, but ultimately I think what's needed is a push for more stable, transparent and deregulated governments. That's not as sexy a topic a free computing or as simple a rallying cry as debt forgiveness, but we seen time and time again that stable, open societies based on the rule of law make a radical different in people's quality of living. Hell, just look at the difference between North and South Korea!
Tue, 02/06/2007 - 10:04am
I can't claim to be an expert on the technical and political challenges of a citizen built, ad hoc network -- there's all kinds of regulatory crap that governments and/or corrupt corporations can use to crush this sort of thing.
Yet as time marches on we're seeing a whole generation of technology coming into the realm of the hobbyist, and when I read Make magazine I can't help but wonder what sort of cool, maker/inventor inspired gadgets might arise over the next few years to challenge the status quo. Such as exactly the sort of gadgets you're describing. :)
I think such ad hoc free networks would end up being the back roads of the Internet, never replacing the primary internet (or even its private subnets) but augmenting and supporting them.
As far as clean water and free laptops in the Third World, they're noble endeavors and obviously they will help to some degree, but ultimately I think what's needed is a push for more stable, transparent and deregulated governments. That's not as sexy a topic a free computing or as simple a rallying cry as debt forgiveness, but we seen time and time again that stable, open societies based on the rule of law make a radical different in people's quality of living. Hell, just look at the difference between North and South Korea!
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