Assignment #3 From Multimedia Literacy:
Readings, Responses And Activities From Selected Chapters
 
 
 
Course:  MCTE 660 — Multimedia and Emerging Technologies
Subject: Assignment #3 from MCTE 660 Syllabus, Summer 1998
Title: Assignment #3 From Multimedia Literacy: 
Readings, Responses And Activities From Selected Chapters 
Hofstetter, Fred T. (1997). Multimedia Literacy. 2nd Edition.
Professor: Dr. Robert Lipton, Ph.D.
Student: Leanne C. Boyd
Usercode: boydl
Email: boydl@scis.acast.nova.edu
Due date: September 6, 1998
 
Actual submission date: September 5, 1998
 
 
 
Table Of Contents
 
 
Table Of Contents
Assignment #3 From Multimedia Literacy
Readings, Responses And Activities From Selected Chapters
Chapter 14: Multimedia Frontiers
Chapter 15: Emerging Technology
Chapter 16: Societal Issues
References
List of Figures
 
 
Assignment #3 From Multimedia Literacy:
Readings, Responses And Activities From Selected Chapters
 
 
 
 
 toolbox.gif - Podium Software
 
Figure 1: toolbox.gif. (University of Delaware [UDEL], 1997)

Chapter 14: Multimedia Frontiers

  1. Consider the text of this book and the CD-ROM that accompanies it. What is t he role of the book, and what role does the CD play? If you could redesign either the book or the CD or both, how would you present the material they cover? Is either the book or the CD unnecessary?
Within the parameters of our course, this textbook and its accompanying CD-ROM have played an essential role in gaining an effective and quite extensive overview of multimedia. I believe that this was an excellent learning tool, overall. As with any tool, there are drawbacks as well as beneficial elements. That is to be expected, no matter the source of the tool. For me, the highly important "half" of the tool was the textbook. I thought the book was a veritable fountain of information – even for a person who has been very active in the arena of multimedia for almost a decade. The book is very well laid-out and organized. It has already become a handy reference tool for me, both in my studies and in my work, as it has readily available information in the form of descriptions, examples, and Internet URLs where more information can be found. Because of my readings in this text, I’ve been able to add numerous "bookmarks" to my own set of personal tools in my Netscape Bookmark file. This file is a totally unique and very large set of URLs that cover every imaginable subject. I spend many hours working on and refining the Bookmark file, as it is indeed a well-organized tool on which I can rely. Thanks to this textbook, there are many subject areas that have been broadened, for me.
 
Another important factor to the book/CD set that was really important, was the totality of the overview. The text centered on the history of multimedia for quite a few chapters, and continued to the end of the book, citing examples that not only explained topics, but gave a historical pathway for the reader, in seeing how the history of all media fits with the digital or multimedia paths. I found this quite helpful, especially in beginning to make my own determinations for future purchases in multimedia components. As I now have more experience in the history of certain elements – such as the CD-ROM industry – this will help in guiding my choices in equipment, my studies, and especially my future large purchases for my small studio.
 
The author has excellent grasp of the material, in my opinion. Coming from a print and publications background, there isn’t a thing that I would change about the layout or presentation of this book, other than to be very timely in overseeing the next edition(s)! The one complaint I have, is a general complaint for the "paper" society that is being rapidly left behind. Because the book IS a printed tool, by nature it is bound by the limitations of its research time, publication time, and copyright date. In other words, it is already LONG outdated, in many areas, the instant it reaches the user’s hands. If I were to want to change anything, it would be to take a serious look at my publisher and their commitment to eventually (more quickly than most publishers or authors want to think!) taking the book online. This, however, will create a need for both the author and the publisher to become adept at all the new offerings and restrictions (mostly, ways of doing this in a successful manner) guiding the new worlds of E-Commerce. In my opinion, a book on multimedia is a logical – if not brilliant – choice for offering through the online world of publication.
 
In the same manner, this could perhaps have been done even more easily with the CD-ROM. Certainly the CD makes the information more portable, in the sense that a modem hookup isn’t necessary. I believe that the entire CD could have been placed on a website. All of the necessary URLs could have been given for accessing information and also the software tools. My main complaint with this particular book/CD has been that is was so proprietary – the entire CD was presented within the restraints of the authoring tool, Podium. To be as respectful as possible, I thought that Podium was a very inferior tool. The "bugs" encountered really blighted the use of the information in the tool. There are many other more reliable environments in which to author an interactive program! I believe that our experience in this course was made, if not more difficult, than certainly more irritating, as the presentation method added a lot of time and frustration, simply because Podium doesn’t work very well!
 
If I were given the chance to redesign this tool, I would center my attention on the CD-ROM. It is a current tendency to offer a CD with a book that covers computer topics. At this point, it still is a marvelous incentive to purchase a book, as we tend to believe media hype. Any of us tends to believe that the CD-ROM will enhance our experience with the text material. Unfortunately, the actual physical entity of the CD-ROM gives a "concrete-ness" to the invisible offerings of the text – the opportunity to LEARN, the lessons and suggestions given, the data that one came here to get in the first place. A decade or more ago, marketers discovered the same truth about the human psyche and cassette tapes. Higher prices were placed on printed material when it was accompanied by one or more cassette tapes. By using the means of the then-current technologies, it tended (and still tends) to give more credence to the offering, simply by quietly stating that the provider is more "state-of-the-art." Coming from print and publications, with a heavy dose of marketing, I can truly say that the CD portion of our text/CD package was more of a marketing effort than anything else. A CD-ROM can be held in the hand, and its shiny exterior speaks of high technology. This goes for even veteran computer users, as well as newcomers! In my re-design, I would immediately get rid of the CD presentation. ALL of the items contained on this CD can be had online – and, chances are really good that the NEWEST VERSION of things could be immediately available.
 
Secondly, I would not use Podium. If the author’s wish was to utilize a software in which he had a great portion of the share for developing the software (and this seemed to be the case), then perhaps the CD is the best way of "pushing" that software (or the book, or both). If, however, the author’s wish is to present the material in the best way, then the presentation method must be made within a software that is more reliable and useful, such as ToolBook or Authorware. It is my opinion that most of what we deal with – personally, professionally and in the education arenas – will very shortly be made available online. This might even be said, EXCLUSIVELY online. I would re-develop all of this CD into a very attractive and interactive Internet application. I would then set up the online text. An additional benefit is instantly created, in that then you are in a position to link the two together! The software that is made available on the CD will now be available for download directly from the publisher’s site, with the most current version instead of an outdated one. This, of course, will cause the author to be forced to keep the information more current, within his/her textbook.
 
Interestingly, when I took Professor Hofstetter’s email address, and plugged "udel.edu" with "www," to view the University of Delaware’s web site, I came up with some interesting facts. After doing a very brief search, with the keyword of "Podium," I instantly accessed the home page of Podium software. I found that many of my ideas concerning an online site have already been implemented! My excitement over this find then dwindled when I opened the "Page Info" from the top menu of Netscape.
 
This site had last been modified on May 23, 1997.
 
To me, this means that the web site was last worked on in about the same time frame of the publication of the book and CD-ROM. That indicates to me that, rather than an ongoing commitment to Podium, the "shelf-life" of the software was more directly connected to the sale of the book and CD. Hofstetter’s statement, "PODIUM is a living application that continually gets new features. Most of them get added at the request of users," (UDEL, 1997) holds very little truth or promise, for me.
 
Hofstetter (1997, p. 3) states that "Multimedia is fast emerging as a basic skill that will be as important to life in the twenty-first century as reading is now." Given the changes in this technology from the time he wrote this book, to the publication time in 1997, and then to the current status – this statement is sorely under-emphasized! The author, himself, is very savvy about the trends in modes of offering a product such as this very one! On page 502 of our text, Hofstetter says, "The World Wide Web provides one of the quickest and easiest ways to publish multimedia applications." This chapter, Chapter 66, then pinpoints methods for doing just that! Perhaps Professor Hofstetter has just outlined his plans for the next edition of the book!
 
All in all, this text was quite a good choice for this course. I found the CD almost useless, as Podium was a real irritation to me. The software on the CD are ones (every one of them!) that I’ve used for several years. For other students, I must fairly remark that at least the choice of software was very good, and provided an excellent introduction to multimedia, Web, and creative software. My last comment has to do with the time frame for the learning curve as presented by our book/CD-ROM – twelve-week courses have such limitations! The content of the course, within the constraints (which could have been leaping-off points of great interest) of the book, became quite severe. I felt very stressed, trying to meet the conditions of the assignments. Even with my background, this was a lot of information to cover in our brief time frame.
  1. To what extent has your local community become "datafied"? Are your schools connected to the Information Superhighway? Do teachers have access to it, or just the administrators? How about students? Is your local library connected? What about homes: Does a cable TV, telephone, or Internet company make Information Superhighway connections available to homes? If so, at what speeds? What online services are provided?
athomezap.gif. TCI @ Home.
Figure 2: athomezap.gif. (TCI [Tele-Communications, Inc., 1998])
Denver is touted as being the "Telecommunications Center of the World." Indeed, there is much truth to this, as the telecommunications industry has experienced a rapid growth, and the description of the average citizen/worker in this area has drastically changed in the last decade or so. With TCI, Lucent Technologies, Sun, Storage Tech, and a dozen other "big-name" communications and/or computing industries leading the way, as well as hundreds of smaller companies in the same technical arenas arriving daily – there isn’t anything new under the sun … that doesn’t arrive in Denver, first!
 
With efforts from companies like TCI and CARL Library Systems, the Denver community was well on its way to being almost totally "datafied" back in the early 1990s. During the years of 1992-1994, the years of my position as Media Director for North High School in Denver, all of the Denver District schools were in the process of becoming wired. In fact, during those years, the schools were wired to be able to use such city- and state- and nation-wide offerings such as Cable Channel 22,, which is TCI’s affiliated, locally-run learning channel. And, in 1994, most schools in the district were already being wired for the Internet! It was often amusing to watch all of this, as it was obvious that departments within Administration were gaining a certain savviness of new technologies – but, the end users, the schools and teachers, were woefully un-educated in all computing areas. Within my position, I utilized every component made available – from teaching students and teachers how to use the early efforts of CARL, to using learning technologies via TCI and USWest efforts in Denver. Many of these offerings have since then expired, as the worldwide use of the Internet is more efficient.
 
It could be (and HAS been) said that these were thus a waste of taxpayers’ money. I disagree. In the same way that each of us makes a dedicated effort to keep up with emerging technologies, it is the same for all professional areas, including education. To make a commitment to an emerging tool, that school speaks its commitment to the community. When students leave the school system and are successful in dealing with new technologies, it has much bearing on the attitude of the community when it comes to the funds necessary for teaching our young people. A very large part of my own success in current technologies has had to do with the Denver-based commitment for offering state-of-the-art methods in the schools. I was of course, inundated in all of this in the Media Director position. However, this commitment also seeped heavily into my academic studies when I returned to college, in 1995. It has affected all three of my children, from the elementary stages through the university experience.
 
It is my fairly knowledgeable opinion that most students and ALL teachers in the Metro area have access to scores of online offerings. It is also my experience that it usually ends up being in the teacher’s hands, how MUCH of this gets placed within the reach of the average student. More and more teachers are becoming computer-knowledgeable, and the growth of online use is astounding.
 
The library system in Denver is probably among the best in the world, both in typical library offerings, and also being "datafied." Denver is the home of the CARL system. All schools within the state are linked within CARL – through the college level, but reaching down to the smallest elementary school.
 
All homes in the Metro area are capable of providing very high levels of data access. As earlier mentioned, TCI makes its home here. TCI has recently made available their @Home services, which were debuted on both coasts over the past couple of years. This is "web t.v." in the making! I find it extremely exciting. The costs are still a bit high, as the "dumb terminal" television/computer, and the linking boxes, must be purchased. The services, however, are quite economically feasible. TCI states it this way: "Tele-Communications, Inc. delivers a variety of high-speed Internet products, such as TCI@Home through its cable broadband infrastructure." (TCI, 1998). It is the same TCI cable that brings television entertainment to Denver that is also delivering Internet products to homes and businesses. The speed really is revolutionary – up to a hundred times faster than the speed of a typical analog telephone modem. Some of the most exciting news, at least to this writer, is that they offer a professional equivalent – TCI@Work – which is a comprehensive, scalable and secure remote LAN access for corporations.
 
To receive TCI@Home, you must meet the following minimum system requirements: TCI@Home supports either: Win95 or higher, 486-66 or higher, with a minimum of 16MB of RAM, with support for WinNT 4.0 with a minimum of 24 MB of RAM also being available. On the Macintosh side, they support MacOS 7.5.3 or higher, PowerPC or PowerMac with a minimum of 16MB of RAM. (TCI.net, @Home Availability, 1998). @Home is a relative newcomer to the Denver area, although friends who work for TCI have been acting as "guinea pigs" for over a year. The areas include the following communities: Edgewood, Golden, Lakewood, and Wheatridge. (TCI.net, @Home Availability, 1998). These are all communities on the far west side of the Denver Metro area, concentrated near one of TCI’s main headquarters. Unfortunately, Denver proper, nor any other outlying Metro area (such as my own of Thornton-Northglenn-Federal Heights) is yet included.
 
Finally, it has to be mentioned that Denver offers probably more than an average number of ISPs (Internet Service Providers). Along with the national "brands" such as AT&T’s WorldNet, AOL, CompuServe, and the like, Denver has literally hundreds of small service providers. One of them is Rocky Mountain Internet (RMI), which is growing very large and has expanded into other states. USWest (which covers 14 western states) also has recently begun to offer ISP service, along with all of the very upscale services such as ISDN, T1 (and all the other "Ts"), and special commodity hookups. The average price of ISP service is around $20 per month for unlimited access, although some of the smaller contenders have gone as low as $9.95 per month (unlimited access, usually for a set term, such as six months).
voyager.jpg. Creating a hardware similar to 'Beam Me Up, Scotty'
Figure 3: voyager.jpg. (mail to:Lt.Picard26, 1998)
 
Beam Me Up, Scotty
 
  1. If you could invent anything you could think of, what kind of devices would you create for improving your computer’s user interface? How would the devices help you communicate with your computer better than you can now? How would they make it easier to use? How would they make the simulated environments you experience seem more real? How would they get you more involved in the interaction?
Quite frankly, I find this question: 1) partially, somewhat silly, as it is extremely difficult to keep up with the astounding advances IN REALITY, without having to imagine things; 2) and, partially, very funny, as I have actually had a dream for decades about ONE invention that would make our lives easier (it is part Time-Machine and part Star Trek)!
    1. In the very recent past, Macromedia held a contest for its subscriber list, to their online newsletter. In a series of written descriptions, contest contenders were asked to describe their "Dream Machine" software. Each of the five or six separate contests asked for different aspects of the "perfect" creative and web development software. I can’t help but ask, after-the-fact, if Macromedia actually utilized many of the ideas in refining the last-minute details of the then-released DreamWeaver. Whether they did or not isn’t important. The important fact is that DreamWeaver really DID make a difference in the user interface and the software capabilities for web designers. It really was a dream come true, and, as with all of Macromedia’s products, is an example far above most of the rest, in web design software. The same can be said for FrontPage by Microsoft, although it is less on the creative end and more on the technical, development end of the spectrum. Given current new media offerings, I find it difficult, if not silly, to think that we can currently ask for anything more. We can anticipate revisions of truly fine tools. But, if we envision that even a supra-charged simulation tool within something such as DreamWeaver – aren’t we then back to the artist’s palette?

      2. Wonderful! The artist’s palette … with all the turpentine smells and oily brushes that we tend to suck on while contemplating art or cutting off of ears, with oil-paint-soaked trousers that walk by themselves; with a need for a studio as large as a barn – please, spare me from that kind of simulation! In 1986, when I met my first Macintosh, I knew my liver had been spared from further oil-paint-based symptomology, my trousers lived long, non-rotting lives, and my nose smelled nothing more than typical hot-monitor odors! Who would want to simulate many of the "downsides" of traditional art?

    2. In the late 60s and early 70s, who was NOT an avid Star Trek fan? Well, I for one, was not. It took several years, a broken spine in a college swimming accident, and MUCH time for reflection on life’s more important aspects, before I became a Trekkie. While waiting for wounds to either heal or kill me, all the while wondering if any of it was worth worrying about, pondering everything spiritual, from my childhood-based traditional Baptist upbringing, to a Nam-Yo-Ho-Renge-Kyo, Buddhist-sect inspirational walk … I also discovered … RE-RUNS.


      3. Star Trek lived alongside That Girl, who frolicked the same fields as Stalag 13. Strange bedfellows (actually, That Girl was pretty prim!), but they all had their messages for me. Star Trek-gazing actually was the start of my own trek into all-things-computer. The actual seed had been planted with 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, Star Trek had some sensational gadgetry! One of these, of course, was the "Beamer." To this day, I am adamant in my belief that this is actually DO-able technology. Well, maybe TOMORROW’s do-able technology. When I think of the time that could be saved by instantly beaming one’s self to any location, it makes even voice and video-conferencing pale by comparison.

      One of the more remarkable aspects was introduced in one of the television series: the theory that a being’s cells could beneficially – or for the worse – be "re-combombulated" into a wrong or right form. "Beaming up" took on a new twist for me. Along with the idea of tele-transporting came the idea that the technique could have surgical overtones – broken bodies could perhaps be (Humpty-Dumpty-UN-like) put back together again. It was with many more years of soul-searching, spirit-expanding, and body-training that I was able to come to terms with the spinal damage. But these thoughts were certainly in keeping with many, such as Donna Haraway and the search for Cyborg in our bodies and selves (this writer invites the reader to visit "The Extensions of Ourselves: WE ARE CYBORG" at http://clem.mscd.edu/~boydl/cyborg/cyborg.htm – written at the undergraduate level by this author).

      Meanwhile, a Beam-Me-Up machine has NOT been invented. I can now, after over a decade of computing, see that it would also be an invaluable tool for those involved in Net technologies! Instant group gatherings at any location. Tele-transportation of materials. What a concept. Yet, if this had been invented already, we would have been cheated out of our due course of INNOVATION in New Media, and would have missed such fine software tools as DreamWeaver, and the exciting voyage we’ve all taken via the Internet!

      As with some very famous lessons, such as found in The Monkey’s Paw, it is certain that some things are best left un-wished for.
 
 

Chapter 15: Emerging Technology

 
uswest_megabit.jpg. USWest High Tech Connectivity Services.
 
Figure 4: uswest_megabit.jpg. (USWest, 1998)
 
  1. Contact your local telephone company and find out whether ISDN services are available to homes in your neighborhood. Find out how much it costs to get an ISDN connection. Make sure you ask about ongoing as well as one-time costs. What Internet services are available via ISDN in your neighborhood? Can you get videoconferencing? Does it cost more than lower-bandwidth services?
Citing some things explained before in this writing, Denver offers so many choices in all of these things that it is almost impossible to get a clear idea. However, there are companies that are well-known and perhaps offer the WIDEST array of services at a very competitive cost. As I’ve watched the marketing and the listserver groups hash out the benefits and horror stories of these emerging technologies, I have decided on two things: 1) I will wait until the technologies (such as ISDN) are more stable, before I will leap into the scrambling mess it seems to be, right now; and, 2) I will keep current on all of the media hype and the personal talk going on, no matter how painful it gets. An example of this pain is when you finally have to set a filter on your listserver group’s emailings, as the arguments get so "loud" that on any given day, you may have as many as 50 email messages in your box … everyone has a heated opinion on new technologies! They also all seem to have someone to blame or flame.
 
Having said all of that, I will give a logical example of these services in the Denver Metro area: USWest, itself, seems to offer the most comprehensive plans, at affordable prices. The downside is that, as a "monopoly" in the area, sometimes the services are much harder to get and are of less quality, than advertised. Again, the news groups online are the best form of information, as these are individuals and businesses who are actually in the throes of installing or using such things as cable modem access or ISDN. Even my recent addition of a second, modem-dedicated phone line into the house, has proven to be a horrible headache, and after a month of "not getting it right," it still isn’t right! These are the valleys and mountains that all of us have to live with, until the time that the technologies are more refined, and installation is more reliable. For the time being, it seems that businesses have better luck – but, then, they also have larger budgets, and contacts in the business world. These allow them the leverage to get the services working correctly!
 
USWest describes their services: "MegaBit Services provides end to end connectivity for simultaneous high-speed data and voice transmissions over a dedicated transport architecture. The service uses Rate Adaptive DSL (RADSL) technology for subscriber end service delivery, and ATM for host end connectivity." The descriptions and prices are very seductive for those of us who live, work and study online. The following table, derived from website information, will give further information:
   
The MegaSubscriber options are:  
MegaLine:  For about $40 a month plus a one time set up fee and modem, U S WEST MegaLine gives the user 256 Kbps access to a corporate LAN or ISP. MegaLine Services offer connectivity at roughly 9 times the speed of a 28.8 Kbps modem.
MegaOffice: Those subscribers with greater bandwidth needs can select U S WEST MegaOffice, which provides 512 Kbps access for about $65 a month plus a one time set up fee and modem.
MegaBusiness: Heavier-use business customers and serious cyber-surfers needing more bandwidth and video capability can get U S WEST MegaBusiness. With 768 Kbps at about $80 a month plus a one time set up fee and modem, customers can work from home at speeds once available only at the office.
MegaBit: A new offering for 1998, intensive business users will be able to get three U S WEST MegaBit high-speed options: 1 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream; 4 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream access; and 7 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream access.
The MegaCentral options are:  
MegaCentral: The host (hub) location can choose speeds of 1.5 Mbps or 3 -45 Mbps in 3 Mbps increments.
If you are looking for fast paced access to the Internet using DSL technology, here are your options:  
MegaPak: U S WEST.net is poised to offer an Internet solution coupled with MegaBit services in some areas. The package is called MegaPak, and it provides 256 Kbps access to the Internet for $59.95 per month plus a one time set up fee. 
MegaPak includes: Continuous 256kbps digital connection with U S WEST.net Internet Access* Netscape Communicator 4.0 Internet browser 24-hour technical support 7 days a week 2 e-mail boxes   

2 megabytes of Web page storage On-site wiring and complete technical setup including a  
personal training session and e-mail and web page setup
(USWest, Descriptions, 1998).
 
It certainly appears to be an excellent deal. When you hear actual accounts, however, from businesses in the area, it makes many of us reluctant to join in. With TCI not yet having cable modem available in many areas as of yet, options still remain tenuous, even for Denver, Colorado – the Telecommunications Hot Spot of the World! As for all of the rest of the world, our main goal needs to be to stay as informed as possible, and tweak each skill out of each leg of the journey, to the best of our abilities!
  1. Contact your local cable TV company to find out if cable modems are available. If not, register a complaint that your cable company is behind the times. If both cable modems and ISDN are available to you, compare their speeds, costs, and range of services. [Teacher’s note: You don’t need to register t he complaint.]
Most of the information for this question has already been covered, previously. Cable modems are available in Denver, but only on the west suburbs of the city. High technology abounds in the form of ISDN, DSL, RADSL and ATM. Waiting lines are common for all of these services. Some of this seems to stem from the proper cabling NOT being available in certain areas, and much of the delays and confusion seem to stem from USWest’s (and others’) confusion over their very own services! The Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group (RMIUG), to which I belong, recounts daily stories of different departments detailing vastly different methods, time lines, and costs. I have noticed that slowly, the stories are starting to merge, and the outcomes more positive.
 
It seems that the two modes of Internet delivery – cable modem and high speed connectivity, will both be in the same range of price. When equipment and installation charges, as well as monthly charges, are taken into consideration, and then averaged over a period of time … the costs appear to be very similar. For Denver, it appears that the larger question lied in what AREA you are located in, and what is immediately or shortly available.
 
Meanwhile, I VERY recently have been reading and hearing a lot about wireless and Internet connectivity. This will allow the user to bypass much of the cabling requirements altogether!! Again, the technologies are astounding. In fact, wireless connectivity is the closest to a "Beam Me Up Scotty Machine" as I’ve heard of, in the real (not Real-Time) world! I await the list of complaints, praises, and costs!
  1. Do you believe multimedia is just a fad, or is its use emerging as a life skill for the twenty-first century? Give reasons for your belief.
It is my strongest belief that the use of multimedia, the use of interactivity, and of the Internet, are not only NOT a passing fad, but are going to be the cornerstone of every human action with which we are currently familiar. The skills gained in the use of multimedia will be cross-grained in training and personal use – in all aspects of business, personal life, and education. It may very well be that cable modem will serve its ultimate purpose in providing a means for allowing children to continue in ANY form of an organized educational environment. As populations grow larger and budgets grow smaller, there is still an immediate need for excellence in the business world … or, there won’t BE any business world, nor a need to educate a next generation of workers.
 
Rachel Carson once stated that the end might come "not with a bang, but a whimper." In our crowded, yet isolated corners of the world, it is easy to envision a day when connectivity along certain, current routes, may cease. If we are to NOT go out of this with a whimper, it is this writer’s opinion that each of us must make a commitment to the very technologies that support all of the GOOD that is to be found in today’s societies. Many will harangue on the non-beneficial aspects of what technology has done TO us. They need to be reminded that they, too, are a member of the Cyborg Generation. The very heart pacing machine that regulates their life, the microwave oven that cooks their dinner, the surgical implant that allows them to walk on a badly damaged knee joint, the blood transfusion that kept them alive after a bad accident – all of these are what has allowed them to become complainers in the midst of miracles! I, for one, would never again whimper about the scariness of atomic power (as a child, a member of the "Bay of Pigs’" terrified generation, I was immobilized by anything resembling a siren). It may very well be that the next generation will have instant worldwide access powered by a yet-not-innovated chip that is run by … atomic power.
 
 
 

Chapter 16: Societal Issues

  1. Has a government regulation ever prevented you from accessing services you felt you had a right to? For example, when the FCC ruled that cable companies cannot rebroadcast FM signals, the author’s community lost its cable access to National Public Radio and several other FM stations. Since we live in an area too remote for good FM reception, we became disconnected from these important stations. And without any warning! Have you had a similar experience? If our government cannot regulate access to a simple FM radio station, how will it ever manage an Information Superhighway?
In pondering this question, I realized that there have been few, if any, governmental decisions that affected my life in the arena of communications. The closest thing to this would have been in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the services of cable television were regulated much differently than they are now. In Denver, there were two companies that served the outlying areas, with cable television. Very quaint and obsolete laws that were meant for earlier media (telephone and radio) still were intact in the Colorado regions. The wording was such that cable television COULD NOT BE HAD by citizens of Denver, proper!! To make the whole scene even more bizarre, I worked for an early forerunner of TCI, itself – drafting land maps for the laying of cable for cable television companies in every corner of the United States – except Denver!
 
I then relocated to southern New Mexico for five years. The ONLY form of television in the barren wastes along I-10, in Deming, came from cable t.v. I was delighted to have my own cable television and all of its offerings! When I returned to the Denver area in 1985, the antiquated rulings had been reversed, and cable television was well-ensconced in the entire area.
 
As for the last question, this is a dangerous thing to ask a renegade such as myself. It is my opinion that the government has literally "screwed up" every issue it has ever laid its gubernatorial hands on. It will be an extremely sad day for all of humanity if we allow the Government of any country to begin to impose their twisted ways of looking at things, on the ethereal plane, the Internet. The online world, in my estimation, is the ONLY wilderness and place of peace, that we have left … unless, of course, one has access to a trip to the moon. I think it needs to be said that each of us who has come to invite the offerings of the Net into our lives, need to defend the freedoms of this medium as much as possible!
 
The answer to the question? There isn’t a solitary hope that Government could properly regulate the Internet.
  1. Providing access to every citizen implies that the network is easy enough for everyone to use. The failure of Microsoft’s Bob and Apple’s eWorld demonstrates that we have not yet found the right way to provide access to the mass public. The challenge is to make computers easy enough for all citizens to use. Since half of the people are by definition below average, this means making computers easy enough for below-average citizens to use. Do you think this is possible? How would you design such a user interface?
My mother always taught me that, in my relationships with friends, peers, and associates, there would always come a day when I would meet up with someone who was not as smart as I was, not as ethical as I was, and certainly not as inquisitive and creative as I was. I feel fortunate that my parents taught me that all humans I would meet basically were equal (in God’s sight, as they were staunch Baptists) on a spiritual plane, and therefore, worth knowing. I am also glad that the rest of Mom’s lesson went like this:
 
"Elevate those who need it, to your level. NEVER go down to theirs." (Carson, Mary, 1952-1998, personal interview [or frequent verbal caution]).

I believe this to be true in the world of computers. Every day, each world citizen comes closer to the physical actuality of a computer within their access. Every day, more of those citizens learn a bit more about using one. Why should we trample on the innovations of the wisest and brightest amongst us? That is the same theory that has "equalized" the school experience of our children – making everything they learn subject to the median abilities and successes of humans. They have taken away the programs not only for the very brightest, but also those for children with special needs. In trying to reach the "median" skills of children, they’ve robbed most of our children of the best experience they could have … challenge, competition, pride in work well done, satisfaction of learning to help those less fortunate.
 
We should let the innovators innovate. We should attempt to learn what is right for our own lives, at our own level. We should take every opportunity, on a very personal level, to attempt to give our knowledge to those of our own generation, or our progeny.
 
Any larger attempt will probably be futile.

 
 
n Teacher’s assigned question: Create a multimedia project. Use Podium, PowerPoint, HyperStudio, or any other multimedia presentation tool available to you, to create a brief multimedia project on a topic of your choosing. Be sure to credit your sources, if appropriate.

My Microsoft PowerPoint 97 presentation, Zoofolder_.zip, was submitted on September 3, 1998 via email. The HTML version of this presentation may be found at: http://home.earthlink.net/~boydzoo/boydfolio/index.htm
 
 
 
 
References
 
 
 
 
 
List of Figures
 
Figure 1: toolbox.gif. (1997). University of Delaware (UDEL). [Online]. Available: http://www.udel.edu/podium/
 
Figure 2: athomezap.gif. (1998). TCI (Tele-Communications, Inc.). [Online]. Available: http://www.tci.net/tcinet.pgs/newframe.html
 
Figure 3: voyager.jpg. (1998). Mail to:Lt.Picard26: Lt. Picard’s galaxy of Trek. [Online]. Available: http://members.aol.com/ltpicard26/startrek.html
 
Figure 4: uswest_megabit.jpg. (© 1995-1998). USWest Communications, Inc. [Online]. Available: http://www.megaspeed.com/
 
 
 

 

JUMP!!!