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Wired Into the Future
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 17:35:17 -0500
San Francisco Chronicle Editorial November 13 Wired Into the Future Pacific Bell's $16 billion commitment to lay the virtual concrete of an information superhighway through 5 million California homes, beginning next spring, puts California on the fast track to a future that most of us can barely imagine. It is a future that, we are told, holds the key to global competitiveness in 21st century technologies, and one in which profound changes are inevitable in the way we work, relax, communicate, shop, learn--live almost all aspects of our lives. That's a lot to claim for a thin little piece of fiber-optic cable-- the stuff with which PacBell plans to wire us into the full-blown information age. And like earlier claims for the personal computer revolution (which was supposed to create a paperless office, cook our dinners and water the lawn while paying our taxes), it may well be an exaggeration. If the main product delivered by the fiber-optic superhighway is nothing more than 500 TV channels of shopping shows, reruns and never-should-have-runs, it will be worse than an exaggeration. It will be a cruel hoax. Presumably, it will amount to more than a not-so-entertaining overload. If it creates real competition between cable TV operators, where none exist today, it could result in a surge of innovative, narrow-focus entertainment and education programming by a vast array of small and large production companies offering tens of thousands of good jobs. If the highway is cheap and easy to get on and off, it could also accelerate the emerging promises of telecommuting; dispersed, interactive education; distant health care; and anytime/anywhere communications. And if it is a genuinely two-way thoroughfare, and if access is guaranteed to all, it could speed us forward into the hazy but fascinating promises of work and life in cyberspace: workplaces and relationships and collaborations that span distance, culture and time. So far, though, the if's and the but's of an information superhighway still seem clearer than the promised realitites. What that tells us is that we had better get a grip on the technology before the technology gets a grip on us. It may be that the traditional rules and regulations that have governed communications monopolies, broadcasting, phone services, computer communications and even retailing will have to be changed to accomodate the arrival of the one-wire information thoroughfare. But in making those changes, we must insist that the highway remains open to us all, that it will not invade the privacy of our homes or offices, and that it will stimulate--not suppress--competition and innovation. PacBell's ambitious move into the next century could and should be good news for all Californians--all the more so if we understand its implications rather than sit back passively and let the traffic roll through our homes.
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- Wired Into the Future David Farber (Nov 13)