Who needs WWW

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JAMES S. DERK: Who needs the Internet? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Sep 18, 1996 01:47 a.m. EDT) I keep a letter from a reader posted in my office, just to keep me humble.

He responded to a previous column touting a new high-speed modem that I suggested people might want to buy to use the Internet.

"I'm just Joe Citizen here, not a computer-aholic, trying to live and pay for my kid's orthadontia on a journalist's salary and when I buy into the hype from someone like AOL (America Online) and then get shot down and get told by someone like yourself that I need another probably expensive toy to REALLY experience the thing, I say 'huh?' and then 'to heck with it' and go to the library where the browsing is free and the books don't blink.

"Until access is easy and cheap and doesn't require yet another expensive toy -- and until they do something about those anal-retentive addresses -- the whole thing is smoke and hula-hoops. And you may quote me."

My new friend Charlie from Utah has a point, and a good one.

It's way too easy to forget that less than 10 percent of Americans have access to the Internet at home or at work and a goodly portion of the remainder will die happy having never seen the World Wide Web, a URL or a "Make Money Fast" post in a newsgroup.

The difficult part of writing a computer column is keeping a perspective. Not everyone has a Pentium Pro 200 or a Power Mac; not everyone runs Windows. Heck, not everyone has a computer.

Why should people plop down 18 bucks a month to wander the Internet?

Well, some people probably shouldn't. But I can tell you, and Charlie, who should.

-- Parents. Even if you're scared of computers, your children aren't. Like it or not, the future of the world is based in computers and the information age. If you are counting on your school district to fill that gap, guess again. Teachers are trying, but there aren't enough computers to go around and the time spent on them is limited.

Instead of spending $250 on a Nintendo for your kids this Christmas, buy them a used 486 and a modem.

-- Seniors. Two years ago I bought my retired father a starter kit for the Internet. He refused to install it on his modest computer. I insisted. Today, he probably spends most of the day on the Internet, exchanging mail with friends, participating in newsgroups and helping others better understand their computers.

Everyone in my family has e-mail now, and it has brought us closer together.

-- Nearly everyone else. Business people will love the Net and its access to information. Teens will love easy access to games, chat and help with their homework. Singles can meet interesting people online. Moms and dads will find parenting tips, games and ideas for their children.

The sick can find medical advice and treatments. The homebound can travel to exotic lands and return the same night without jetlag.

Yes, I'm pretty impressed with the Internet; not as much for what it is now but for what I see it becoming in a very short time.

-- WEEKLY WEB WONDER: The most incredible Web site I've seen to date: Infospace at infospaceinc.com. Every phone number, e-mail address and fax number for everyone in the world, plus a My Town directory that on the fly develops a commmunity guide for any major city in the USA. Simply amazing.

(By James S. Derk, computer research editor for The Evansville Courier in Indiana and co-sysop of Courier Online. His e-mail address is JDERK@evansville.net)

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