Dire warnings on becoming 'too wired' in the past few weeks have come from no less authorities than the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQSS) in the US, and our very own George Carey (you may know him better as www.archbishopofcanterbury.org).

But as most of us do things in moderation are we all the victims of yet more hype concerning the Internet ?

Professor Norman Nie, director of SIQSS says : "A key finding of the study is that the more hours people use the Internet, the less time they spend in contact with real human beings. This is an early trend that, as a society, we really need to monitor carefully."

The Archbishop's comments hit a more serious vein "Of course, you may argue, e-mail can be a way of making important connections. That's true, but it can also be a distorting and unsatisfactory one - in which self-deception and evasion are prominent.

A third nail in the coffin for those keen like ourselves on working from home came from Dr Susan Baines the University of Newcastle in a report about freelancers working from home: "For some there are indeed new freedoms and new opportunities. Isolation and insecurity, however, are common and can be intense. "

What was common, however, to all three reports was that there were also some very positive comments to be gleaned from the detail, and that much of this did get overlooked. The Stanford report said that 60 per cent of regular Internet users say the Internet has reduced their TV viewing!

The Archbishop says : "Clearly the access to information and the ability to tap resources not otherwise available can be a potent tool of empowerment". And Dr Baines says: "For some creative media workers there are indeed new freedoms and new opportunities in home-based self-employment,"

There was some balance to be found. And our perspective is that particularly where 'wired' working from home is concerned, if you are going to stack up the plusses and minuses we also have to look at the real downsides of working in an office. Access to work (in the first place), cost of travel, the need for expensive office clothes, potential bullying, long office hours culture and the rest.

For many working from home is an attractive opportunity - it helps them create a better balance in their lives and for others it is the only real opportunity of getting to work.

For more information on the Yortel project bringing teleworkers together in the Yorkshire area, phone Alan Denbigh on 01453 834874 or e-mail him at: teleworker@compuserve.com

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.