data_mine

Posted 2003-01-24 @ 08:55:57

The city of Houston has signed a contract to replace Microsoft Office with a Web-based service from local startup SimDesk for the city's 13,000 PCs. More than just an attempt to save money on software licensing & hardware by replacing conventional workstations with inexpensive 'Internet Appliances', city officials say the program is intended to give every Houston resident access to the application:

[T]he goal is to ensure that every Houston resident has access to basic PC functions, whether they're using a public PC at the library, an old-hand-me-down laptop or a $50 Internet appliance.

That's really what's driving this--our mayor (Lee P. Brown) is going to be the first mayor on the planet to really bridge the digital divide in a major city, Lewis said. It just makes sense to make sure all sectors of our community have access to these kind of productivity tools.

Sounds like an admirable goal, but if the federal government was pushing for a centralized repository of all the information citzens enter into their 'productivity tools', there would be a tremendous outcry from privacy advocates. Should such proposals from local governments be treated any differently?