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Isn't there an inherent contradiction between 'democratises' and "$4.99 a month"?
by twelvechairs 15y ago
Isn't there an inherent contradiction between 'democratises' and "$4.99 a month"?
- sp332 15y agoNo? It just means that anyone can do it. You don't have to be part of an "aristocracy" (government or academic) to have access to these tools.
- __alexs 15y agoIf you had to pay $4.99 to vote I suspect people might complain about how "democratic" that was. It's at worst a bit of an over-reaching use of the word, and not some horrible evil conspiracy to exclude poor children from doing maths on the interwebs.
- ohrock 15y agoYou do pay a lot more than $5 to vote in the form of taxes. If you stop paying your taxes, will you still have your right to vote after your sorry ass lands in jail for defrauding the IRS? There you go, so much for free democracy.
- __alexs 15y ago> If you stop paying your taxes, will you still have your right to vote after your sorry ass lands in jail for defrauding the IRS? In Europe, yes, you can still vote. Even if you are a convicted of murdering the people who came to take you away for not paying your taxes. Further reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11674014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11674014
- poloniculmov 15y agoFor some crimes, the sentences can include temporary removal of some rights, including the right to vote.
- msutherl 15y agoWell, one of the main tools for data analysis, R, is already free ("democratized"). That said, automated access to datasets, natural language parsing and other AI goodies lower the barrier to entry for non-professionals.
- baddox 15y agoNot really. People often talk about the Internet democratizing lots of things (music, news, etc.), but you have to pay for the Internet.
- melling 15y agoI spend more on coffee in two days. People seem to think everything should be free. Wouldn't it be better if everything was simply affordable?