A New Lower Class: Aspiring Majority
February 29, 2012
I remember a high school history teacher explaining the Middle Ages. The idea was that there was a king, some earls and barons, and lots of serfs. The idea was a harbinger of upper, middle, and lower class. The notion of the Great Chain of Being was tossed in to make sure the rats carrying fleas knew where they stood in this “chain.”
When I read “The Future According to Eric Schmidt”, I learned the medieval social order was back. Here’s the passage I noted:
A third group [serfs], though, will have no or only limited access to the Internet. This “aspiring majority,” as Schmidt calls them, will likely have some form of access to technology, but it will look different from what we expect today. Maybe, though, they will use mesh networks to create local networks that isn’t even connected to the wider Internet. For Schmidt, it seems, mesh networks represent the easiest and cheapest way to get these underprivileged users at least partly online.
Serf is updated to be the “aspiring majority.” Okay, I get it. Addled geese are part of the serf world, oops, aspiring majority. I need a T shirt with this catchphrase.
Stephen E Arnold, February 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
