One thrust of Sproull and Kieslers’ findings revolves around the paucity of information e-mail users receive about one another. Unable to see and hear fellow users’ responses, they know less about their cohorts than they would in a face-to-face setting and are therefore likely to be more uninhibited … E-mail users are more likely to resort to the sort of scurrilous name-calling known as “flaming,” more likely to be candid, and less likely to be dominated by people with high status
The advent of electronic mail is fostering a revival of “the familiar letter.” … Management consultants see it as “enabling technology” for corporate reform, linking employees and information so efficiently that the ranks of middle managers can be dramatically thinned … E-mail “represents the next quantum step toward human freedom.”
We’ve given individuals and small groups equally powerful tools to what the largest, most heavily funded organizations in the world have. And that trend is going to continue … By creating this electronic Web, we have flattened out again the difference between the lone voice and the very large, organized voice … And I don’t think it’s anywhere near over.
If children’s needs are to be met, the information revolution cannot be seen as just another way to make money; a major priority must be to give all schools the new information technology.
New technology has the potential to divide the haves and have-nots, making its availability to children from all backgrounds crucial.
I have serious questions about whether any sophisticated criminal or terrorist organization is going to use the one code endorsed by the U.S. Government and for which U.S. Government agents hold the decoding keys … I am concerned about Clipper Chip’s impact on the competitiveness of our robust, high-tech industries. We must make sure that Clipper Chip will not impede American companies trying to market high-tech products overseas.
This country will never accept the new temperance demogoguery that is leading us down the road to Government censorship of computer communications.
If we grant too much power to online providers to screen for indecent material, public discourse and online content in cyberspace will be controlled by the providers and not the users of this fantastic resource.
Virtual reality could revolutionize television news programming by allowing viewers the sensation of being immersed in stories such as those about wars and disasters, without suffering the consequences.
We really don’t know what’s going to happen with the bandwidth question. “People could just form co-ops and fiber themselves up and have a neighborhood node supplied by the lowest bidder, instead of waiting for some centralized force to come in and lay fiber.”