| 1 | 0Icelanders Seek To Keep Remote Nordic Peninsula Digital-Free (apnews.com) null/SLASHDOT/0102641672 70\r |
| 2 | i Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)\r |
| 3 | i from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.\r |
| 4 | i\r |
| 5 | i Hikers, park rangers, and summer residents of Iceland's\r |
| 6 | i northernmost peninsula are [1]seeking to keep the area free\r |
| 7 | i from internet service , worrying that all that comes with it\r |
| 8 | i "will destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of\r |
| 9 | i [email, news, and social media]," reports the Associated\r |
| 10 | i Press. "The area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial\r |
| 11 | i initiatives could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands\r |
| 12 | i and push Hornstrandir across the digital divide." From the\r |
| 13 | i report:\r |
| 14 | i \r |
| 15 | i > Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on\r |
| 16 | i a U.N. index comparing nations by information technology use,\r |
| 17 | i with roughly 98 percent of the population using the internet.\r |
| 18 | i Among adults, 93 percent report having Facebook accounts and\r |
| 19 | i two-thirds are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many\r |
| 20 | i people who live in northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor\r |
| 21 | i enthusiasts want Hornstrandir's 570 square kilometers (220\r |
| 22 | i square miles), which accounts for 0.6 percent of Iceland's\r |
| 23 | i land mass, to be declared a "digital-free zone." The idea\r |
| 24 | i hasn't coalesced into a petition or formal campaign, so what\r |
| 25 | i it would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last\r |
| 26 | i full-time resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it\r |
| 27 | i never was an easy place to farm -- but many descendants have\r |
| 28 | i turned family farmsteads into summer getaways.\r |
| 29 | i \r |
| 30 | i Northwest Iceland's representative, Halla Signy\r |
| 31 | i Kristjansdottir, is in favor of adding cell towers for the\r |
| 32 | i safety of sailors and travelers in the area. "I don't see\r |
| 33 | i anything romantic about lying on the ground with a broken\r |
| 34 | i thigh bone and no cellphone signal," Kristjansdottir said in\r |
| 35 | i an interview.\r |
| 36 | i \r |
| 37 | i \r |
| 38 | i \r |
| 39 | i [1] https://www.apnews.com/71cdfb7b1c2245069a6f681f8b8f906f/Wi-\r |
| 40 | i red-Icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-peninsula-digital-free\r |
| 41 | i\r |