DEVON-L Archives

Archiver > DEVON > 1999-11 > 0943310675


From: <>
Subject: Re: DFHS
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 17:44:35 EST


Diane

Overall I tend to agree with you. I think that people over 60 in the UK are
the fastest growing group of people on the net. Something to do with having
more time on their hands-which implies that it isn't really anything to do
with computer phobia.

Where I think we part company is this bit about needing extra 'bodies' to put
information onto the net. The information on tha fiche is, I presume, word
processed in some way. I can't read it but I would be surprised if it were to
be photographed handwriting. Just processing the information in that way is
sufficient to then enable it to be put onto the net with a few key pushes. At
that point it has effectively been published and all the costs of
reproduction on fiche and distribution by post ( of apparently varying
degrees of slowness!) are saved. At that point I then agree with Milo, we
maybe a self selected group. By definition we have access to the net and
would therefore be likely to want the information published in a form that we
can read, but surely it is far easier to get access to a computer with net
access than it is to find someone with a microfiche reader.

In fact just about everywhere that I can think of that has a fiche reader
will also have a computer connected to the web; the reverse isn't true. Most
places ( and they are far more common) that have computers don't have access
to fiche readers.

Hmm . . . somebody better kick my soap box out from under me!!

Sorry if that sounds like a rant, Diane.

Jon

This thread: