EMFA: T3E3 - When Pigs Fly - Goss

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Theme:  Networking Communities
Author: Nathalie Goss, Director, AzTeC Free-Net
E-mail: goss@aztec.asu.edu


WHEN PIGS FLY     

     by

Nathalie Goss


My mother, a beautiful and articulate 88 year old insists she has
no interest in computers or the Internet. In fact she sniffs 
and points out, "I'm much too busy!"

Three thousand miles away from my mother's home in New Hampshire
the seniors in Arizona who belong to the AzTeC Free-Net just
smile at this "When pigs fly" mentality. This mindset can be the
biggest challenge to overcome and these seniors have met the
challenge and won. 

As new technology continues to advance, a whole new language of
pc's, modems, providers, FTP, Telnet, IRC and e-mail assault the
senses. Just as all this is absorbed, catalogued or digested
along comes news of digital, digital video, microwave  etc. It's
enough to send grandmas and everyone else heading back to the
porch rocker.

Pages have been written to explain the new technology to the
masses and yet for many it has been an exercise in futility.
Television only requires a comfy chair and the push of a button.
VCR's were a nightmare to program and now we have the Internet! A
community effort may be the answer to this dilemma.

Consider this, in 1993 a small group of educators, business
representatives and community volunteers gathered at Arizona
State University to discuss the merits of offering a Free-Net to
the residents of Maricopa County, the largest county in the state
of AZ. The Free-Net concept was adopted from the original
Cleveland Free-Net in Ohio. We would offer free Internet access
to residents at home or through public access spots scattered
across the county. The financial costs would be picked up by
grants and individual and corporate donations. The server and
modems would reside at the university and the tech help would be
volunteers. All other services would be furnished by community
volunteers.

In Aug. 1994, the AzTeC Free-Net became a reality and began with
200 registered users. By March of 1998 the Free-net had expanded
to over 27,000 users, many of them seniors. Volunteers offering
seminars, a manual, a help-line and one on one assistance made
the difference. AzTeC became a family of community volunteers
stretching acrosss the state of Arizona.

Recently I spoke to a group of seniors enrolled in an Elderhostel
computer class at Arizona State University's East Campus. I told
them about the seniors in Arizona keeping in touch with their
grandchildren all over the country. I informed them of the blind
the hearing impaired and other disabled and homebound people who
are now connected to people all over the world. I spoke of lonely
people who now had a worldwide circle of friends to talk to every
day. And I told them of the thrill I had connecting my Swedish
and American families via the Internet after a half century
search.

I ended my talk by telling them that my family was now online all
over the country, with one caveat. Mom's on a trip again and she
is is still, "much too busy."

Nathalie Goss 
Past President AzTeC Free-Net 1994-March 1998
Director, AzTeC Free-Net 1998
E-Mail: goss@aztec.asu.edu




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