News that Finland has taken the lead in making broadband access a “legal right” has been quickly followed by the report from a major UK foundation that it is now regarded as part of a social baseline – those items “no longer regarded as luxuries but as essentials.”
When one goes on to read the rest of the Rowntree list (it seems Brits can’t face the idea that their fellow-citizens must live without DVD players, mobile phones, fridge-freezers, and at least one week’s going off on vacation – though, phew, it need not be overseas) it does raise the question of the power of expectations in a rapidly-shifting culture. To put it another way, it should perhaps encourage us to reflect a little on the way in which technologies have the capacity to limit as well as enhance our choices. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/06/internet-access-home-essential-survey
FutureofBiz.org 