CompuServe Messages

>> Such items would be far more useful if the information contained in them were stored electronically and a system of electronic retrieval were available to everyone via cableTV and/or touchtone telephone.<< I agree …. but there are too many assumptions to overcome in that statement. 1. Electronic storage requires an elecronic means of retrieval. This assumes that EVERYONE would have a computer or related device to accomplish this retrieval. Polls show that only about 15% of households have computers (or other similar retrieval systems) in them. And only 3% of public libraries have similar equipment available to them for such electronic retrieval. So the first part of your campaign would have to be "a computer (or similar) in every home!" that in itself is a huge hurdle to get over. Paperbound encyclopedias still exceed the usefulness of a computer in this respect because virtually all libraries have a full set of encyclopedias avaailable, and more than one person can be using a set of encyclopedias at a time when two or more library patrons want to lookup subject within different volumes within the set. At this point in time, technology only lets one operator per computer (unless you're talking about a mini-computer that is far too expensive for any but the largest of public libraries to own/use). 2. Allowing EVERYONE access to such information via public utilities is quickly becoming reality, but has not quite made it there yet. there are still far too many households that do not have access to cable TV, and attempting to gather information via telephone with the use of aforementioned computers (or similar) would be worse than useless. A person would never be able to get enough information, via telephone, in a timely manner without the use of some information gathering device such as a computer. Fortunately Ma-Bell is addressing that aspect even as we speak. The (collective) phone companies have received authorization recently to enter the 'programing distribution' field. If I know Ma-Bell at all, what I [ MORE ]