Flat global address spaces and the Clash of Civilizations
From another old friend, Howard Rheingold, this clip extracted from a longer discussion:
One in eight people in Botswana have mobile telephones.
Six weeks ago, in Sao Paolo, I saw barefoot people in the slums talking on
their mobile telephones.
Somali traders of the coast of Dubai make deals via telephone. In rural
Bangladesh, the mobile telephone has been introduced via payshops run by
local women -- and the shops have become new social centers.
(Found via Corante and Brad Delong.)
Meanwhile, a blogger in Baghdad risks his neck to trade insults and sympathies with Americans and others on the net, and Iranian students plot revolt and gather global support on the Web.
We do live in interesting times. Who could have possibly imagined that spread spectrum radio and packet switching, both pioneered by the US DOD, would become a way for ordinary citizens to talk across national and civilization boundaries. What they find to say to each other may well determine whether Huntington's apocalyptic vision is correct.
Update: Salam in Baghdad has shut down, probably getting too much attention after Reuters mentioned his site. Hope he's OK, Saddam's goons aren't likely to find his activities humorous....