PARTY LINES

Just how important is the telephone in our daily lives?

I'll admit it, I have a cell phone with me always. I have a land line in order to access high speed internet services here on the peninsula where I live. And yes, I plan to succumb to consumer marketing hype and purchase an iPhone when the next generation is birthed by Apple perhaps in the summer of '08.

I may no longer have a party line these days but I am still plugged in to Ma Bell.

Thanks to meticulous reporting around the world since as early as 1884, there is a wealth of statistics on the number of telephones in homes and offices around the globe.

According to Robert J. Chapius, author of One Hundred Years of Telephone Switching, "One can follow step by step, very exactly, the development and expansion of the telephone service over the years since these have been published by every country, from the time its telephone service was introduced."

Chapius points out, "There are probably few economic or industrial activities in the world for which precise and comprehensive statistics exist, with chronological series covering such a long period."

But, who cares?

Economists. Social scientists. Corporate managers. Politicians. Power brokers. Money mongers. Movers and shakers of all kinds.

Ever hear of Jipp's Law? Almost no one has, including Google.

Apparently, this economist is credited with linking the number of telephone stations in a country with its GNP, or gross national product. He discovered there was a direct correlation: the higher the GNP, the greater number of telephone stations.

At this point, you may be saying, "Duh!" If a country has more economic resources, it can afford to have more phones.

But, why is this important?

Whether you read Karl Marx or use common sense, you are not likely to deny that technology changes society. Chapius goes so far as to claim, "The impact of technology may thus far outweigh that of successive generations of men born or elected to public offices and indeed, it transcends factual history."

You mean my iPhone will leave a longer lasting legacy than George W. Bush? Hmm....maybe in terms of positive contributions to society. And it would be hard to sift through all the lies of his administration to determine the "factual" history of Bush's terms in office. But, I digress.

So, let's draw some inferences from Jipp's Law as it was applied to telephones. The technological ability to communicate locally, nationally, and globally is symbiotically tied to a country's prosperity, its economic health as measured by GNP "wealth". If we provide access to information, open the lines of communication, then economic development should occur.

Then, why are some people in power attempting to lock down access to information?

Could it be connected to distribution of wealth? Could it be tied to corporate profits?

If you agree that information should be free, check out these resources:

Creative Commons : Are you a blogger? Creative Commons offers six "some rights reserved" copyright licenses that permit you to protect your work yet share it with the world. After you have chosen the type of license you would like to use, the non-profit site automatically creates the HTML code for a Creative Commons button and explains how to add the code to your blog

Electronic Frontier Foundation : tips on how to not get sued for downloading information and other ideas to avoid being treated like a criminal.]

Media Access Project : read disturbing testimonials from everyday citizens who fought for intellectual property rights and learn about this non-profit advocacy group. Created in 1972 after 1960's litigation "involving the failure of a Mississippi TV station to serve the African American community", MAP now works to "defend citizen's rights in the emerging digital culture."

Node101: An open source, collaborative project created to teach and spread videoblogging worldwide, this non-profit's goal "is to teach media literacy as a life skill and to change the current media landscape from being a lecture to being a conversation. Of, For and By media makers, Node101 is here to support and provide resources to anyone willing to take action to teach videoblogging."

And, if you want to avoid roaming charges, use your phone anywhere in the world, and are willing to pay $7.99 to gain phone freedom, check out: Wirelessunlocking. I can't vouch for them but they use PayPal for payment, which means your investment is covered.

And speaking of phones, I would like to thank the hackers who cracked iPhone security, permitting users to use other networks besides AT&T, albeit for a brief time. Their technological innovation also prompted Apple to release a software update.

Opening lines of communication spurs creativity.


P.S.: Last but not least, I would like to thank Google for designing a Google phone. I can't wait for the day it reaches the "open" market. It will change communications and the world will be better for it.