Always on
Summary Description Simon Vandore ponders dialup Internet, trampoline pits and nature strip techno-furniture.

Introduction
I kept it simple.

Body
We dialled a major ISP and signed up for 50 free hours. Stuck with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, installed a graphics viewer and an archive utility, and my father was on the Internet.
About 18 months later, he asked me how to access his email from overseas. As no Web interface was available, I explained how to set up someone else's email program to access his ISP's POP server.
"What login?" he asked. "What password?"
It turned out that ever since we'd set up his account, he had been logged in automatically by the ISP's adaptation of Dial-up Networking. Outlook had also saved his password. The result was that my father had surfed the Web for a year and a half without ever having been aware of logging in. He just clicked 'connect' and 'get mail'.
I was horrified! How ever did we get to this point? I mean, I'm glad things have improved since Trumpet Winsock and logging in via Telnet, but isn't this taking it a bit far?
Nah, my Dad thinks it's great. The less he has to know about how it works, the better. He can get on with sending email and registering domain names. And I can see his point, because there's something that bothers me about the way Internet access has evolved.
Dialup is still the standard. Fortunately, all-you-can-eat plans have spread across the industry and it is possible to stay connected for long periods to really experience what's out there. Add untimed local phone calls and we are far better off than the poor Brits who pay through the nose for every minute they chat, surf or download.
The Internet was designed to be "always on", a standard feature of your computer when it is switched on, an instant communications and information transfer tool. It is not meant to be a clockwatching exercise or involve timewasters such as logging in. Email is a different concept when it always arrives on the recipient's computer immediately after you send it (like SMS on mobile phones), while the Web is much more useful if you can access information as required. The distance between your everyday life and digital enhancements is reduced.
Very often, the "always on" concept is behind visions for a connected future with touchscreens in the kitchen and PDAs in your shoes. Unfortunately I think we've drifted too far in the dialup direction -- changing people's concept of how the Internet can be used will take a lot of work. Bill Gates' vision of what the Internet means for everyday people is blurred by his wealthy existence, where the Net is connected at high speed to everything from his driveway to his trampoline pit. "Always on" remains a foreign concept to all but the few who can access and afford cable or ADSL.
Fortunately, dialup is becoming a commodity. New phone companies now offer Internet access as a simple addition to their service. All-in-one billing is widely available. Free Internet providers have also played a part, though their revenue streams are still on shaky ground in Australia. When it gets this cheap, connectivity becomes the norm rather than a cool idea.
It appears nothing is as commoditised as hardware. I live at the poor end of a wealthy street where once a month, the council collects oversized rubbish such as garden waste and rusted whitegoods. A few months ago, someone put out a broken computer monitor. The next month so did their neighbours. Today there's another collection and two 15-inch monitors sit by the roadside, sparkling in the sun, looking like at least $800 worth.
Buy a monitor today and put it on your nature strip, just to keep up with the Joneses!
Vandore is published each Friday on Newswire.