The islands' isolation has diminished, and communications have considerably improved.
"With police forces making over 730,000 requests for communications data in the past three years, political mutterings of diminishing access to our communications are clearly overstated.
"The data is clear that there is a significant consumer issue," Mr. Genachowski said, one that has not diminished as mobile communications technology has become more ubiquitous.
But centres of cultural and creative power are shifting too, as the decline of old media quickens and digital communications diminish the importance of place".
Despite the internet and e-mail, the demand for paper-based communications shows no sign of diminishing.
Overall, in a global context of fashion and appearance communications, there may be a diminishing sense of locality and cultural identity in young females' fashion in Hangzhou.
Still, some counterterrorism measures, including new laws that increase the power of government to tap electronic communications, could diminish privacy rights, advocates said.
And Stuart seniorton-White, senior manager of external communications for Europe and Australia at the Rainforest Alliance, suggested that we might also be seeing diminishing returns in what certification achieves.
Perhaps he needs diminishing.
