[naughty net] the beeb says people don't like it

Oh, give a medal to the BBC for its touching concern for the plight of the people "hooked" on the net.

"My wife won't send e-mail" one man says. "She likes the personal touch [so] doesn't know what's happening to that letter of yours [if it is sent electronically]."

Privacy is another worry, as computers have made information gathering so powerful.

"The whole world's on computers", says one woman. "You just have to say your postcode and they know everything about you. I'm just not interested."

"If you hit the wrong key," says her neighbour, "what about privacy?"

And hitting the wrong key took us into complaints about design and computer complexity.

There is an alternative point of view - that the net gives access to friends you'd not otherwise have had. Also, if you were to go around the blogs on your roll, you'd see so many cases of people on holiday or where RL impinges. Doesn't seem "hooked" to me ... although it is part of our lives.

For me, the net replaces television but not radio - this latter, thank you, Beeb. It replaces newspapers but not entirely. Sometimes I'll buy one but it is true the dead wood press does include magazine items of interest. The political commentary we get very well from the blogosphere, thank you.

Nice try, Beeb.