Cindy and I often note that while we use various technology tools and the Internet almost continuously we do not take our experiences for granted. Things continue to amaze us.
We learned about the earthquakes in New Zealand about hour ago. I can’t say I knew exactly where Christchurch, NZ, is, but I was able to locate it quickly in Google Earth and the magnitude and location of the earthquakes were already marked in the “earth quake” layer.
I kind of need access to things from multiple places and platforms. This works with products such as DropBox. I had high hopes for Readability which I feel committed to use on ethical grounds. They promised that there would be mobile apps, but now acknowledge that their app was rejected by Apple. Readability has an option in which you commit to a subscription fee (minimum $5 a month) and they distribute 70% of this money to the registered sites that you process to avoid ads (in the manner that Instapaper allows you to read without ads). It appears that the voluntary subscription or at least 30% they are taking is the sticking point with Apple.
[Followup – this analysis appeared on the MacWorld site after my post was written.]
This post from Slashdot indicated that government data on broadband access was available. You need to go to PC Mag to find the link to the map. I tend to think of the Digital Divide as determined by those with low incomes not being able to afford access. even though I live in a state that does quite well financially on average but lacks access because of “rural issues”.
The point is – when you depend on “industry” to offer a service, you are going to have equity issues when all customers are expected to have the means to purchase the resource or when the cost to the industry makes it more expensive to provide the service to some.
So, like the attitude of some toward health care, is this simply a matter of “it sucks to be you” or do we step up as a nation and provide access because we care about equity?
This video is a chautuaqua speech by Linda Darling-Hammond entitled The Flat World and Education. Somewhere I am certain I have a book with the same title. Darling-Hammond typically speaks on the topics of equity and quality in education and on the topic of quality teacher education.
Her analysis of what countries that are sometimes regarded as more successful are doing is quite informative. According to her analysis, many proposed reforms are not consistent with the tactics employed elsewhere.
The availability of the iphone in North Dakota is big news (at least in the GF Herald)
“I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen customers so excited,” a retail district manager for Verizon Wireless said. “They’re shaking hands and high-fiving on their way out the store.”
Apple fan girl Cindy Grabe is cautious. Even though her data plan has come due and she has inherited what she constantly describes as a “crap phone” from her husband, she thinks a new iPhone is on the way and she is waiting for the next generation.
This piece from the NY Times (may have not register to view) offers comment on U.S. News and World Report’s plan to now rank education colleges and the resistance the magazine has encountered in the process.
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