The Information Supernightmare (McCall, Scripps Howard)

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

[I also do not agree with much of the authors points. I wonder why I am
allowed to have a car when many in this country due to location or
economics can not have one. Radical Elgalitariasm strikes yet again.  One
the other hand I do agree with the need to understand the impacts on our
society.


Dave


ps I have just become a Fellow of the Annenberg Public Policy Institute so
maybe I can learn a bit about this]


Date: Sat, 18 Jun 1994 18:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paul Robinson <PAUL () tdr com>


Note: I do not necessarily agree with the points or conclusions made in
this article; the items mentioned are worth considering and so I'm posting
this article which appeared in today's paper:


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The Information Supernightmare
Jeffrey McCall
{Washington Times} [DC]
Saturday June 18, 1994 Page D1


   To hear the big corporate investors talk, having access to 500
television channels on the information superhighway is just what every
American needs.  Of course, it is just what the investors neeed - a big
return on their big financial speculation.
   History provides plenty of examples of technology developing in advance
of our sensible abilities to use it.  The newfangled supermedia systems
being develeoped are our latest challenges.
   It's neat to think about being able to retrieve whatever movie or TV
show you want to watch, whenenver you want it.  It's cool that you can
watch channels around the clock that will be targeted at people just like
you.
   Kids can hardly wait to play interactive video games with opponents
from distant states.  Shopping the mall from your living room might be
convenient for some.  And banking from your video control center will save
waiting in the drive-through.
   But let's not get caught up in the glitz sold by big-time marketing pros
and corporate investors with negligible societal insite.  Along with the
entertainment, convenience and pizazz come complex issues that we must
face right now.
   Will those high-tech toys be available to every American as part
of a fundamental right to be enlightened?  If the information and
entertainment that will be transpoted on the superhighway are as
important as they say, can a democratic society deny equal access?
Ethically, probably not.  Practically, you bet.
   Vice President Al Gore has promise universal service across all
sectors of society.  But don't take that to the bank just yet.  We're still
working on universal access to other important things - such as food,
health care and employment, to name a few.  People who are hungry, sick
and unemployed could care less about plugging into the shopping mall
channel.  Not to mention the cost of equipment and service for people to
access and retrieve on the superhighway.
   Maybe we would need another federal subsidy program to guarantee the
access that Mr. Gore promises.  Let's face it, the corporate giants
driving the big rigs on this highway have no financial incentive to
guarantee universal access.  Lower- and middle-income folks just won't be
riding this highway for years to come.
   Before leading more cheers for the information superhighway, we
need to ask a basic question:  What is the problem that these systems
will fix?
   Do Americans currently suffer from a lack of mediated diversion?
Hardly.
   I doubt there's so little golf on television that we must have a channel
exclusively for golfers.  Or that we need a military channel, a game show
channel, or an environmental channel.  Is our access to enterainment so
limited now that we need televisions that give us the movie we want at
the moment we demand it?
   Consider some of the ethical challenges on this highway:
   o   You're worried what kind of messages your kids get from the media
now?  Wait until the range of options expands.  And don't assume that
irresponsible parents will suddenly catch on and begin to supervise their
kids' viewing.
   o   You're worried about privacy issues because you're bombared by
solicitations, and the government keeps a record of everything you do?
Think about having everything you view or access on the supermedia system
logged somewhere, and how much that information will be worth to
marketing companies.
   o   You don't like huge corporations having too much influence in
society?  Think about the power that will soon be wielded when one
corporation controls all the lines of communication going into your
house.  Or a couple of corporate giants control the content of the
messages that go into everybody's house.
   There is a real danger that the information superhighway is
developing in a raw fashion that seeks to create "needs" for the
consumers.  What does our society really need?  Does the information
superhighway meet those needs?
   To date, the big-time planning of our mediated information and
entertainment futures has been left largely to the technocrats,
financiers, marketing gurus, lawyers and politicians.  Future planning
sessions must include communications theorists, sociologists, and
ethicists.
   The time is now to gather minds to wrestle with the issues
surrounding the information superhighway.  It's not about just to
speculate about who will get rich and what is technologically possible.
We must talk about what is best for all the people, and for the society.


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Jeffrey McCall, chairman of the Communications Arts and Sciences
Department at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., prepared this
article for {The Providence Journal}.  Distributed by Scripps Howard
News Service.