There seems to be the radical difference between the Consume model, where nodes or peers negotiate between themselves. It seems radically different than the ISP model that we're all used to, where money is made at every opportunity within the network.

Well I think obviously what an ISP does is... there is a scarcity of bandwidth which they ensure, and then they distribute that based on a delegation of those costs which leave them with some profit in their hands. Whereas in the case of something like an open sharing network there is no scarcity. The scarcity that possibly is there is the type of material you might be able to carry across that, and that's where the educational side of this has some space to manoeuvre. But you're not operating with the scarcity: you're operating with a surplus that isn't going to cost you any extra.

And it benefits users of this, or members of this club to actually give things away and to share, rather than to horde?

Yeah, absolutely. The whole thing, the whole notion is about establishing the ground upon over which you can share without imposing on anybody else's idea of what's possible and what's appropriate. Obviously very quickly as we started discussing all of these issues amongst those who'd got involved early, a lot of people do have concerns, and we inherited concerns over consent and over permission about doing all sorts of things. And what our whole society's imbued with these conditions for existence that we take for granted, that we don't really question enough.

If these open ideas can bring some of those issues up in a way that we can deal with them, then that's a success in itself. The notion of the network itself is a model of a conscious society: we have to get some consciousness about what this is all about, about what this technology can really offer in terms of a benefit to everyone rather than a method of instruction for those who are wishing to capitalise.

It seems to be, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of this project is that you make a computer network - something that's usually invisible - you make it very visible and very physical. For example, you have to know who your neighbouring node is often by name, you often have to know their precise location so that you can point your aerial in the right direction.
How can people become involved in that network so they too can physically become involved in the Consume network?

Well I think that obviously an awareness of this sort of idea is possible, and that's part of our idea: that we are putting together a strategy that makes it practical to actually become involved.
And one of the ways you can start having a look at how that might be suitable for you is to visit a website we've put up which, as well as giving an overview of what might be possible, offers you the opportunity to examine a schedule or a list of nodes.

You can actually do a search for a node that might be near you by entering your - in the case of the UK, at least - your post code for anywhere in the UK, which will determine a real longitude, latitude position. And you can then request that a build of a list that includes people within a certain radius from your home position or your work location.
So, for instance, if I do a search from home - I live in Brockley in South East London - I do a photo search about five kilometres, already, without really us having put any major effort into the publicity of this node database, I'll see six or seven people within five kilometres. And I'm not in the centre of town, and if you actually go as far as the centre you'll find as many as 15 or 20 people within proximity.

That is brilliant, but until individuals go ahead and actually nominate their own locations - even prospectively, as a place they'd like to do something - then their very immediate neighbours who might be coming across this information in the weeks that follow won't have an idea how close you are to them, thinking the same thing at the same time.

And this is what we're hoping to evoke out of this part of the site, as a consensus, a permission. Permission to go ahead. Permission to say, 'I'm thinking about this', and an encouragement to go ahead and make something of it, and take the next step which might just be getting on the roof and seeing who you can see. Or chatting to your neighbours to find out maybe they've got an ADSL line next door.