June 2000 Technology Update: Computers 6/e

Take College Courses at the Bookstore Historically, a college education was acquired at a college. This along with hundreds of other traditions is changing because the Internet provides the flexibility to offer college courses via distance learning in cyberspace. Several publishers and the number of commercial enterprises have announced plans to compete with colleges and to offer college courses. Some plan to offer college degrees. Barnes & Noble, a major bookseller, has announced plans to offer free college courses. Barnes & Noble.com says that their courses will vary in duration, from a day to up to 12 weeks.

News on the Internet To no ones surprise a growing number of people are getting their news from the Internet. This, of course, means that people are choosing this source over newspapers, radio, and television. Internet news sources have the capability to deliver just the news that the reader wants, such as NBA basketball scores and technology news. Also, online news is continuously updated and delivered in real-time. According to a survey by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, about a third of all college graduates younger than 50 visit Internet news sites each day. Only 20 percent from the same population watch traditional broadcast television each day.

The Wireless Campus Drexel University may be giving us a glimpse at the future for thousands of other campuses. Although many colleges now require that students purchase PCs, Drexel was one of the first to do so. This coming academic year Drexel University will become a completely wireless campus. A combination of small antennas located around the campus and wireless adapter cards for student/faculty laptops will enable Drexel's academic community to be connected wherever they are, whether in the classroom, dormitory, or under a shady oak tree.

The "Film" Industry May be a Misnomer The transition from film-based photography the digital photography is well underway as people are moving to digital cameras. However, the transition to the digital distribution of movies, versus traditional film, is just beginning. 20th Century Fox and Cisco Systems has introduced the digital distribution of movies with the release of "Titan A.E.," a space adventure that combines computer-generated 3D images with traditional animation. The movie is now playing in movie theaters that are equipped with a special hundred thousand dollar movie projector. The high cost of the equipment may slow the transition, but digital distribution of movies is inevitable both to movie theaters and into our homes.