In 1991 I was attempting to persuade the Australian government that installing a computer terminal in every household would win a huge benefit for the community.
This terminal could then be easily used to connect to central computers that would offer services such as banking, voting, updating government records, up-to-date telephone directories, etc., at a small cost, so supplying a huge benefit to everyone.
Today, circa 2007, such services are common but instead of a terminal they require a computer to use, which immediately requires a knowledge of computers. This adds unnecessary complexity and expense to the use of such services while imposing concerns upon every citizen that should have been left to technical experts.