Satellites and the Digital Divide

One of the methods for increasing the number of people with web access ("bridging the digital divide" if you will) was satellite internet. The New York Times conversation with Pradman Kaul was really interesting, and it brought up some interesting points, including:

• There are "probably 15 million" households in the US without access to broadband internet services. If we can't get broadband over wires to everyone in the US, I think that the problem is going to be different around the world. It just isn't feasible to lay wires to every house in the world.
• Broadcasting high demand programming over satellites means uploading once and sending to millions at once instead of downloading it millions of times. This makes a lot of sense in terms of bandwidth usage, but I don't know how it will be worked into people's already "on-demand" attitudes about web content.
  

This all reminded me an article I read from the BBC I had heard about the launching of satellites by a group called O3B networks (named after the "Other 3 Billion" people on the planet) to provide satellite internet to underserved markets in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. The venture is funded in part by Google, and this makes me a little uneasy for two reasons:

• Every person online is another set of eyes that can look at Google advertisements. It is in their interest to get as many people online as possible. Will they be willing to accept responsibility for the social unrest that comes with the changes in communication that take place when a society takes up a new technology en masse, or are they doing something about it?
• Do we really want the owner of a lot of online content being an Internet service provider? I don't feel like it's a good idea to have the content and the service come from the same place.
  

The Networked Society: Coworking

One of the most interesting examples of how globalization and new media are working together to fundamentally change the world is the demise of the long term, position based career and the rise of the task based career. Because I'm going to have to work in this environment, this really interests me, and there is a new trend in freelancing called "coworking" that I'd like to look at.

When most people think of a freelancer or someone with a flexible working arrangement, they usually assume this person is working from home. After all, doesn't everyone want to work in their pajamas from the couch?

What some who don't have to go to an office for their job every day have learned is that this doesn't always work. When working from home, it can be hard to make the distinction between home and work life, leading to a feeling of always being on the clock. Also, working at home is full of distractions that take away from productivity.

This lead to the invention of "coworking". In a co-working environment, "independents" as the movement calls them can rent an office in a suite with other similarly situated workers. By sharing office expenses and communal space for conferences, a more productive, professional office can be attained much more cheaply. In addition, the coworking office allows for socializing and professional networking with other independents.

Obviously one downside is that it increases the overhead for those who use it, but the increased productivity and work opportunities that come from networking should be more than enough to balance it out. Overall, I think coworking is a great idea, something we're going to hear a lot more about in the future, and something I'd like to explore for myself.