This is Internet On The Air. I'm Todd Mundt. Is e-mail becoming an essential
service...just like the postal service? Details in a moment.
Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of
Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation.
Back in 1775, Benjamin Franklin became the country's first postmaster
general. He improved the speed and reliability of the postal service. Ultimately, postal
routes were extended to the most remote areas of the nation. Today, we have universal
postal service - which means mail is delivered to at the same cost to all residents, no
matter where they live.
Some researchers propose that universal service should now be the goal for e-mail. A
study conducted by the Rand Corporation in 1995 recommended that the government make
public access to e-mail a national priority...this would involve greatly expanding the
service through schools and libraries. But Rand researchers estimated the cost of such a
project at 10 billion dollars, spread over the next decade.
Since the Rand study, e-mail has become both more popular and easier to use. Most Web
browsers now include e-mail...which makes it easier to stay in touch with friends and
families online. Studies of communities also find new uses for e-mail, including business
and school conferences, and as a way for doctors to maintain relationships with patients
outside the office.
The growth of e-mail shows how quickly new technologies can become an accepted part of
people's everyday lives. Whether there is enough public support to create universal e-mail
remains an open question. But the Rand study is a reminder that public institutions play a
key role in making new technology available to people who otherwise would not have access
to the system.
To learn more about the debate over universal access to e-mail, visit our Web site at
www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air, I'm Todd Mundt.
