CHAPTER 14 Computers in Society: Tomorrow
Archiving Today's Cyberworld for Posterity For centuries our written history has been archived in print format. This was relatively easy to do because print was the original format. Today, however, much of what is written is electronic. If not properly archived, much of what we do may not be recorded for posterity. The United States Library of Congress is having a difficult time keeping up with the pace of advancing technology and its many changes. A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences has criticized the library because it has fallen behind in its charge to keep up with important written materials of our times. One of the most daunting tasks facing the library is determining what to keep. At any given time, the Internet has more than a billion pages of information. This is but one more issue facing our emerging information society.
Radio on the Internet Since the beginning of radio we have talked about it coming over other airwaves. Now, in the United States alone, however, more than 30 million people, which is more than one-third of Internet users, listen to radio via streaming audio over the Internet. This changes the perspective of radio because what used to be a local or regional audience is now a worldwide audience. For stations that wish to become national or global in nature, this will change everything, including content, advertisers, and scope of operations. Radio stations broadcasting over the Internet are perhaps looking down the road as wireless portable Internet-capable devices proliferate. Will Internet-based "TV" be far behind?
Automobiles Equipped with High-Tech Communications Gear General Motors has offered the OnStar System for the past four years. The system communicates with a central GM location that notifies police and ambulance services when airbags are deployed. OnStar has a number of other uses as well, including a concierge service for dinner and theater reservations, and it enables drivers to have their e-mail, stock reports, weather reports, and sports scores read to them via speech synthesis. Other systems permit users to dictate e-mails and record voice messages. Infrared ports let people communicate with automobile-based systems with handheld and laptop computers. Already, companies are being formed that will enable drivers and passengers to listen to hundreds of radio stations.
Blockbuster Video Moving with the Technology A typical Blockbuster Video outlet has walls lined with DVD movies where there were none a couple of years ago. Now, Blockbuster is taking the next big step to provide a video-on-demand service. The company will allow customers with high-speed Internet access and a special set-top box for their TV order movies via their TVs or personal computers whenever they want them. At this time, only a small percentage of Blockbuster customers have broadband Internet access; however, this is changing rapidly as cable and DSL are made available to larger markets. For at least for some people, streaming video-on-demand is on the horizon.