I truly believe that WWW, with Mosaic-like viewers, will be the “killer” application that catches many people’s imaginations … Many companies are stepping up to WWW as THE technology with which to present info on the Internet – companies like Novell, Quarterdeck and QMS.
World Wide Web is another example of how Internet resources and the Internet itself will continue to evolve, making it easier for participants to locate information scattered throughout the world.
Digital cash sure doesn’t lend itself to the kind of simple explanation that engenders human trust. It certainly won’t make inroads until it works without fraud. Once digital cash comes online – if it ever does – the technofolks will adopt it and chatter about the wonders of technology. Meanwhile, the rest of the world will drop a check in the mail or cash on the counter. Simple, secure, direct, and trustworthy.
The implications of such a knowledge-access tool is that the Internet will become as useful to you as the books on your shelf or as the encyclopedia at the library.
I see the Internet potentially as one of the ways that there can be a large number of users responding to a broadcast. When that happens, broadcasting becomes communication.
The development of new tools for distributed work could enable new forms of collaboration, allowing employees to work more effectively at any location that is mutually agreeable to them and their employers. One result could be new, more productive configurations of people, processes and technology.
Within the next five years the entire American economy is going to be reshaped around these new digital networks. Telecommuting, teleconferencing, telemedicine, teleputing will change from buzzwords into basic fabric of business and life.
New licensing methods will be possible, such as licensing works offline or online, on variety of bases.
Because a speedy Info Superhighway should boost productivity, create new markets, and be a model for the rest of the world, the country that can get this set up first will have a significant advantage in the international marketplace.
In five years, industry distinctions will blur and we’ll just have a series of companies using a variety of technologies.