Re: MS Control of Internet Navigation

[tobeth@lava.net (Beech Family)]

 James Love <love@cptech.org> wrote
>too little attention
>has been given to the role of the Browser as system of menus which guide
>consumer choices for Internet navigation.


Sometimes I wonder if we aren't headed toward two separate "internets"
..one where people actually interact..such as the one we know now..and one
which is a kind of alternative to TV and the Yellow Pages..with all the
bells and whistles..basically an offshoot of the entertainment
industry...with all the "commercials" and rubbish we know and love so
well.{Read... $$$$$}

Personally ..I enjoy the interactive/personal aspect of the internet..which
may yet become the "under-net" as it were..Maybe we should just let
Microsoft, Disney, Time-Warner,ABC whatever *have* the old internet and
build a new one for the *real* people..[who want to actually communicate
with each other]

Or let "them" build a new one based on their satellites ..and keep the old
funky one for ourselves.I personally could care whether or not I can "watch
TV" on my computer.. I'm looking for *information*..not ads..and even more
for *communication*..not just *input* ..

What makes the internet fun, for lots of us..is the *interactive* aspect of
the medium..which seems to be completely overlooked in the rush for $$$ ..

As I so often am heard to be ranting repeatedly.."I want to interact with a
*person*..not a *machine*." [A lot of people think "interactivity" is the
response, by a mechanized agent, such as a computer program, to the
user..rather than an actual "interaction" between human beings, such as
sending and responding to messages on a mailing list or exchanging e-mail
with friends]

Just a few thoughts from the other side of my brain.

Heather