Richard Adler
Louis Bookbinder
Keith Cooley
Margaret Cooley
Imsong Lee
Marvin Lee
Mary Jo Levy
Elliot Margolies
Michael Silverton
Stan Smith
Jay Thorwaldson
Joe Villareal
Imsong Lee called meeting to order at 7:35 a.m. with an opening remark: After the Sept. 25 forum, what do we do next?
Margaret Cooley suggested that the website be updated.
Louis Bookbinder discussed strategies for doing the website update, linking to an archive of information concerning the September City Council event.
Paul Pease mentioned that we could have a list of Comnet members and home pages or explain how to work 'who' command in the listserve (majordomo@svi.org) so that prospective new members could find out more about the group. Margaret Cooley raised a question regarding promotional aspects. Is it proper to click through to Coolware from Comnet pages? Jay Thorwaldson noted that some new members are listed by email address only, which makes it hard to know who they are to welcome them. Could we do better job of welcoming new members?
Mary Jo Levy said that the list of televised rebroadcast times of Sept. 25 event could go on the web site, added to list of ComNet accomplishments. Jay Thorwaldson said the informal history of PA-ComNet that he did some months ago in response to a student doing a thesis might be edited into a more formal history of the group.
Margaret Cooley said there could be a Real Audio version, and Hank volunteered to do this. We could also put Harry Saal's slides on web, converted from PowerPoint. [Keith Cooley and Paul Pease volunteered to do this.]
Imsong Lee would like to see some type of minutes from the 9/25 event. Jay Thorwaldson suggested transcribing the videotape. Louis Bookbinder wondered about Joe's Last Mile site. Joe Villareal will transfer the Last Mile site to the PA-ComNet site. Louis Bookbinder will create an "overview" of the September event and Last Mile site, an archive of the event with links for public access to it.
There was discussion of the term, "The Last Mile," vs. Steve Cisler's term, "The First Mile." Several members said the "last mile" is a widely used term in telephone and communications, and everyone knows what it means.
Relating to Sept. 25, Jay Thorwaldson said that the evening seemed to have had a significant impact upon the people with whom he's spoken. We've received a request for a background packet to be mailed to Wellington, NZ (mentioned by Steve Cisler during his talk).
There was discussion about whether the packet could be put into shape to go online, and Margaret said parts of it were digital but most wasn't.
Imsong Lee said Last Mile will still be a major section of the website and we would like to keep this as a focus of the group, so keep it prominently displayed on the website.
Louis Bookbinder prefers to link to people pages with pictures, if we create a "members" section of the website.
Jay Thorwaldson volunteered to somehow drum up a transcript of each of the visionariesâ presentations, and hoped we might find others to transcribe other parts to be used as a general resource and historical document online.
Mary Jo Levy said a group that grew out of nowhere gained credibility during this event. City Council candidates had their awareness raised. However, attendance was a cross-section of those who already believe in our shared goals. Are we reaching everyone? Mary Jo Levy said key city staff were in attendance; Asst City Manager and Telecommunication Manager and others. Mary Jo Levy's and Jay Thorwaldson's personal email invitations seem to have paid off.
Marvin Lee said that almost everyone in attendance agreed that it is time to move forward with diffusion of infostructure. He learned that Van Hiemke and City staff are working on problem of putting together alternative approaches to extending fiber to the residents and businesses.
Paul Pease wondered if any plan to establish an information utility at the city has already been approved? Jay Thorwaldson said there seems to be a consensus, but not a formal commitment to this strategy, yet. There was a sense that many in attendance at the event agree it may be a good idea.
Marvin Lee said the City is dealing with Cable Co-op and PacBell right now. Some key vocal opponents of this strategy were not at the 9/25 meeting. How can we bring them to the table?
[General discussion of whom to invite to a PA-COMNET meeting to discuss the issues involved.]
Jay Thorwaldson: So where do we go from here?
Marvin Lee suggested a meeting with Utility Commission. Make it an open discussion. Now that we've done our "public" thing, we'd like to find out what questions are important to Commission. What are Commission's concerns?
Jay Thorwaldson said one thing missing at the September event was discussion of specific alternatives. Are we clear about precisely where we want to go? For instance, we need to know more about what is the public right-of-way (ROW) idea raised by Joe Villareal during the storm of messages preceding Sept. 25. Doesn't think we are clear on precisely what this means, and he senses a need to explore the implications and specifics more thoroughly. Marvin Lee wants to get the utility commission to really discuss the technology alternatives.
Joe Villareal wondered how we avoid the fate of Austin and SBC, Referring to a recent court case that curtailed Austin's ability to partner with telecommunication firms to operate a fiber ring system in competitive market.
Stan Smith: We are missing the average citizen who does not appreciate the possibilities of this technology. The program was preaching to the choir. Some kind of demonstration system is what we need. We need more show and less talk. We need the public's support in addition to city administrative support. Not a big and expensive demonstration, but highly visible so we can start showing people what is possible. Criteria for building the demonstration project: Does it advance the goals of PA-ComNet? Does it address the needs of non-technical users?
Paul Pease announced he plans to conduct a local survey on his block to see if neighbors have email in order to explore potentials for neighborhood-level communications using email -- creating a "BlockNet." Jay Thorwaldson asked Paul to write an article on this experience and to include observations of neighbors' reactions.
Margaret Cooley said she is concerned about public right-of-way (ROW) because it is needed to tap into the fiber loop. Will ROW be free? Jay Thorwaldson said we need online discussion of ROW to understand all the implications. City Attorney Ariel Calonne and other city staff need to be included in discussion of ROW. Joe Villareal wondered who would be involved in deciding what ROW should be?
Marvin Lee said that we could and should pursue both directions for next month; Stan Smith's demonstration idea and the Utility Commission direction. Imsong Lee said we will be more productive if we have an agenda. We need to focus on what we want to do. Richard Adler asked if key Utility Commissioners are interested in these issues. Keith Cooley said Chairman Johnson was on the TAP (Mayor's Telecommunication's Advisory Panel) with him. Jay Thorwaldson wondered if we should invite a couple of commissioners to talk at PA-ComNet.
[There was discussion of possible funding or grant sources for demonstration projects.]
Imsong Lee said there are a number of practical issues that must be addressed to obtain funds and we need to have a full-time staff to do this. We must identify funding sources and explore if NTIA or other programs will not fund such projects. Smart Valley once applied to NTIA for a grant to support Public Access Network in Santa Clara County but was rejected by NTIA because Palo Alto is too rich.
Richard Adler said Plugged-In, in East Palo Alto, did receive funds. We might talk with them, more, and possibly invite them to a future meeting. Elliot Margolies said Plugged in is also part of CTCNet.
Jay Thorwaldson said we have to remember that networks are both human and technical, and without technology there can still be a network. Marvin Lee mentioned, as another possible follow-up project, that currently there is no way to use library computers for email communication. Why not follow up on this and get the libraries to become e-mail capable, finally? Mary Jo Levy said that the facilities are just too small to expand the number of computers in libraries. The public is much rougher on public terminals than the average home user, and they need close maintenance and some supervision. The libraries are extremely sensitive to people who don't know what the internet is. These users would certainly make use of email capabilities. There is about a 90 percent usage rate of the existing computers.
Marvin Lee said he is interested in how people use these public terminals and occasionally asks users about it. There is a broad cross section of users that use it for a wide variety of reasons. From his limited surveys, people are using terminals for checking out specific web sites, looking at financial information for investments, looking into specific information with regard to employment, and a whole range of interests from the arts to cooking information, newspapers, historical studies and interests he had never even considered before. If you watch the people using the machines over the course of the day they change in age, occupations, minorities, students, housewives with small children, retired, etc. It would be interesting to see some sample data compiled by the libraries. One thing is certain - they are intensely used and seldom available. The faster, better machines with printer capabilities go first.
Jay Thorwaldson asked if Midtown could apply to city as model using ROW, today. Mary Jo Levy said No, because it is not set up as a fiduciary entity.
Joe Villareal said the loop needs to be lit first, before any community can access it. Paul Pease said we need to know what the numbers are to run a drop and then distribute it to neighbors. Joe Villareal: Right now, the loop is being lit in parts and it needs to be lit entirely. Richard Adler asked if there were numbers available to get an idea of what this will cost. Michael Silverton said that Van Hiemke provided the numbers on the ComNet website. Keith Cooley said that those numbers are extremely outdated and it could be done much cheaper, today.
Imsong Lee said that there is a gap between what we want to do and what is technologically and economically feasible. He is concerned about focusing PA-ComNet efforts and assuring they are feasible and practical. Jay Thorwaldson said we need to clarify our vision for people -- there is plenty of misinterpretation out there. A couple of friends read the Mercury and came to the conclusion that we were in favor of providing $3,000/home links to every home in town for free. That figure came from the old city staff report, and PA-ComNet has never advocated free connections - just availability of connections that are affordable.
Keith Cooley noted that rural telephone co-ops were originally organized by community groups. Jay Thorwaldson said maybe we need an urban telecom co-op? But there are lots of issues to be explored and defined. Who qualifies for a ROW? Organizations, neighborhood groups? What about churches? Is there a church/state separation issue here if it's a city-owned network?
Richard Adler said InterFiber is to trying to install Ethernet wiring for new housing for about $750, but the economics of retrofitting existing houses are apparently just not there.
[General consensus that it is a good idea to invite Roland Alden, CEO of InterFiber to talk at Pa-ComNet. He is on the listserv now.]
Imsong Lee said the technology is available, but we need to focus and come down to a reality check and decide what we are going to do next. Marvin Lee said there are two direction for next month's meeting. We can invite utility people here or follow up with Stan Smith's idea to define a demo project. [There was agreement that both are good follow-up projects.]
We discussed expanding library computer capabilities. Mary Jo Levy said a report suggesting future directions for the library will be issued in November, for discussion by the Council and the community. Providing input at that time would be appropriate and helpful.
Marvin Lee said that, through libraries, we could expand on Stan Smith's idea to ask the public what they need. We need to add e-mail capabilities to library terminals. Joe Villareal said we also need to increase informal social settings where discussions of these issues can take place between the many interested parties. Richard Adler agreed with enthusiasm with that suggestion and cited examples of how that worked with Senior Net. [Joe and Richard became a subcommittee to explore that idea.]
Next meeting will be Nov. 5, at 7:30am. Imsong Lee will invite Van Hiemke, City Telecommunications Manager and Keith Cooley will invite Paul Johnston of the UAC for a discussion of key issues from the City's perspective.
8:40 a.m.: Meeting adjourned
Submitted by Michael Silverton