Free Format Frenzy

I admit it.  I am an electronic communist.  Please don't blacklist me.

Open source, freely available software is in my opinion the way that we can bridge the gap between the economically elite and the fundamentally forgotten.  This beautiful internet is the great leveler in so much as anyone with access can have the vast majority of human knowledge for use or abuse as is their want.

E teaching and learning are all about taking advantage of this.  And yet, I still find students every day without the software, hardware, or access needed to use what we can provide.  Therefore I would like to thank Openoffice.org for the difference they are making in the lives of my students. Their goal

"To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format." "It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."

About this time last century people were still denied their fundamental American rights because of illiteracy which denied them access to information.  A century later, individuals are being left behind again because of lack of access to information of the electronic variety.

But how can that be?  You are reading this post aren't you? According to the US National Broadband Plan

"Approximately 100 million Americans do not have broadband at home. Broadband-enabled health information technology (IT) can improve care and lower costs by hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming decades, yet the United States is behind many advanced countries in the adoption of such technology. Broadband can provide teachers with tools that allow students to learn the same course material in half the time, but there is a dearth of easily accessible digital educational content required for such opportunities. A broadband-enabled Smart Grid could increase energy independence and efficiency, but much of the data required to capture these benefits are inaccessible to consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs. And nearly a decade after 9/11, our first responders still lack a nationwide public safety mobile broadband communications network, even though such a network could improve emergency response and homeland security."

You can test your speed and help the US government track the progress of broadband growth by going to http://www.broadband.gov/qualitytest/?TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=470&qt=true

Two-thirds of Americans with internet access do not have broadband, 1 third has speed so much higher that it brings the nation-wide average up to the 4 Mbps standard.  However, 34/50 states have gone to only electronic downloadable format available for government documents via state sponsored websites.

I am a big believer in the Facebook standard. Let the advertisers pay.  Facebook according to its registration page, "It’s free (and always will be)."  How does this multi-billion dollar giant make that work?  They leverage your data (freely provided by you) into the world's best and most complete demographic segment list for marketing purposes and sell add space by targeted segment.

So wait does that make me an electronic capitalist?  

Well economic ideals aside, the point here is every American needs access to the software to desktop publish, every American needs access to broadband internet, and every American needs access to online education.

Side Note: I started to say "everyone" there instead of "every American," but decided I do not have the volume of knowledge to know what indigenous peoples of the world may need.  I am now second guessing the every American thing because I'm pretty sure the Amish are doing ok. I guess I am less concerned with those who CHOOSE a lack of access, than those who simply HAVE a lack of access. General-isms are SOOOO complicated...