Re: The War is Underway (fwd)

At 04:10 PM 5/10/97 -0700, Kent Crispin wrote:

>Hence the value of the "Crypto is Cool" approach.  A valuable addition
>would be crypto packages designed for high school kids.  All my many
>nieces and nephews are on the net...

I usually don't reply to these kind of posts, but since you have mentioned
this before and since you obviously still don't deem it appropriate to get
yourself up to speed by reading the archives, your idea has been discussed
and tried.

People won't use crypto unless it is either transparent, meaning put there
*for* them by the OS vendor/application developer or because the see a need
for using it. The few fanatics that use crypto because "it is cool" are
inconsequential when the objective is bringing crypto to the masses.



-- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred

   "I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and
    violence, I would advise violence." Mahatma Gandhi

On Sun, May 11, 1997 at 01:18:43PM -0700, Lucky Green wrote:
> At 04:10 PM 5/10/97 -0700, Kent Crispin wrote:
> 
> >Hence the value of the "Crypto is Cool" approach.  A valuable addition
> >would be crypto packages designed for high school kids.  All my many
> >nieces and nephews are on the net...
> 
> I usually don't reply to these kind of posts, but since you have mentioned
> this before 

Actually, you must be confusing me with someone else -- I can't, to 
my recollection, remember ever having said anything about this 
before.  (Of course, you could always go back in the archives and check.) 
I was just responding to the idea mention by someone else (except 
I think they worded it "ciphers are cool" or something like that).

> and since you obviously still don't deem it appropriate to get
> yourself up to speed by reading the archives, your idea has been discussed
> and tried.

With a memory like mine (and yours too, apparently) reading the 
archives would do no good -- I can't remember a thousandth of all the 
stuff I read, anyway.

> People won't use crypto unless it is either transparent, meaning put there
> *for* them by the OS vendor/application developer or because the see a need
> for using it. The few fanatics that use crypto because "it is cool" are
> inconsequential when the objective is bringing crypto to the masses.

I guess we are doomed, then.

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html

Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com> writes:
> On Sun, May 11, 1997 at 01:18:43PM -0700, Lucky Green wrote:
> > People won't use crypto unless it is either transparent, meaning put there
> > *for* them by the OS vendor/application developer or because the see a need
> > for using it. The few fanatics that use crypto because "it is cool" are
> > inconsequential when the objective is bringing crypto to the masses.
> 
> I guess we are doomed, then.

Netscape Communicator has S/MIME built in. I'd imagine that their
support is kinda cheezy and underuses crypto, but it's a step in the
right direction. Considering how open the internet is to snooping, I
think it's nearly insane for business users to not use crypto. I guess
it's testimony to the effectiveness of draconian gov't regualtions.

Jer

"standing on top of the world/ never knew how you never could/ never knew
 why you never could live/ innocent life that everyone did" -Wormhole