🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1991May24.011820.9512@agora.rain.com> trifid@agora.rain.com 
(Roadster Racewerks) writes:

>Hmmmm. Who is on the net?
>
>How about a female part-time sports car mechanic who is an information junkie?
>I don't even care for computers all that much (although I am not scared of them
>like some people) and have marginal use for them in my very small business. I
>live below the established USA "poverty level", am on Food Stamps, belong to
>the SCA, am studying to become a libraraian (my need for computers is about to
>change in a *big* way! :-) am a heavy poster to several soc.culture groups. I
>come to you courtesy of a private BBS in Portland, Oregon, via a used Commodore
>64 using a Kermit program. [...]

>If *I* can do it, so can Zaire!

Yes, I think the fact that low income people with C64s can get net access
in developed countries establishes that there is great potential in
developing countries (though low telephone penetration is a much bigger
problem than the cost of computers). But as well as having a phone line you
are an "information junkie" which would make you fairly determined to get
net access, and studying to become a librarian. There probably isn't much
we can do about the lack of people similar to you in Zaire, since just
access to C64s isn't sufficient. Nevertheless there are enough people
who could benefit in a big way even with very cheap equipment for it
to be worthwhile. (Computer networking doesn't even depend on telephone
lines - diskettes and cassettes can be exchanged via post and articles
can end up printed and photocopied for further distribution).

But you have one MAJOR advantage which people in Zaire don't have,
which we CAN do something about... that local BBS sysop in Portland Oregon.
Not easily transplanted to Zaire, but perhaps capable of being made
unnecessary.

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