Progress

[Dave Hughes <[e-mail]>]

        A number of people have messaged me privately asking me to 
explain a little more clearly what the 'Big Sky Telegraph' model of 
networking really is. Well, I'm not going to do it now, because that 
is trying a paint a moving train. The 'model' is, and has been, far 
more 'dynamic' than some have assumed. In fact that is the *key* 
characteristic of the model - that it has built in capacity for 
growth and change as technical connectivity, economics, and rising 
levels of cyberspace group, institutional, as well as individual 
teleliteracy are reached.
        Even as this group has been discussing the BST traffic 
questions, there is heartening progress taking place in Montana 
(which I think has become a *very* telecom savy state, at every 
level) doing sensible things. A year ago there was MENET (OPI -
their department of education, Fidonet/UUCP/Pointpc based network 
for teachers), and MUSENET (Higher education institutional network). 
Now meetings called by the state's Department of Administration, 
whose ISD division has a big stake in state wide 'government' 
networks, has gotton Metnetters and Musenetters agreeing there must 
emerge one 'net' called MONTNET - which incorporates and links them 
all....
        The dynamic model doesn't stop there. Not only do we have 
Senator Conrad Burns logging onto both, but also into, for starters, 
a health-professionals only Northwest 'Health Net' - running on a 
singular PC with TBBS multi-line MSDOS software in Billings, but a 
few other 'professionals' of significance are logging in. Like one 
Hillary Clinton last week.
        Gee. Just think. For $150 more, by adding eSoft's TIMMS 
module to the TBBS, shareware Fredgate, maybe Binkleyterm, *that* 
system can link with all the others, and we can all begin to discuss 
health care policies with you-know-who. :-)