Bryan Derksen wrote:
I bet a nice market could be school libraries in
not-so-well-off
neighborhoods. They could buy a cheap second-hand computer, stick a
Mandrake Wikipedia on it, and presto - a top-of-the-line (by some
standards :) encyclopedia that the kids could even make copies of and
take home if they wanted. I recall someone was asking about this very
possibility a month or so back, he wanted to install Wikipedia in some
local schools and was looking for a way to download the image database
to go with the text.
I'm not sure if this is unform across the US, but in places I've lived,
school libraries (and public libraries) in not-so-well-off neighborhoods
have been exceedingly well-connected, due to specific funding set aside
to bring computer equipment and internet access to poor areas. It is
true that home internet connectivity strongly correlates with income
though (although there's no real reason why it should, as cancelling
your cable service---which a huge percentage of Americans, including
poor Americans, pay for---and buying internet access instead will
generally result in a net savings).
-Mark