Mikko Koskinen and Santori
Helsinki, March 1, 2002
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Road sign in far northern Finland, March 12, 2002
Norja is Norway, 66 km. I don't know the others.
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Ok, it's just a road. But it's a Finnish arctic road: packed snow, tall drifts.
No salt, no sand. West of Sodankyla, Finland, March 13, 2002
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Sodankyla secondary school
March 10, 2002
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

This is the Jussi Internet Truck, a project that Lea Leisio has been working on.
Nearly all banking and bill paying in Finland are done on line; no one uses paper
checks any more. Those I talked to were shocked that in the US we still do paper
transactions.
But the connected society disadvantages the elderly and isolated farmers and herders.
So Mr. Jussi funded this project for Sodankyla County; 2 bankers and 2 internet experts
visit retirement homes, small towns, and farms in this truck. In the truck are four powerful
laptop computers and a satellite uplink. So the isolated folks can take care of their financial
business in a proper modern way. How many paper checks could we print, mail, and process
for the cost of one of these and its staff, I wonder.
March 13, 2002, Sodankyla
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson