Elon University

Archives: Expert Predictions

The Global Telecommunication Infrastructure and the Information Society

The recent geometric growth of the Internet and the associated explosion in the availability of information demonstrates the virtuous circle in which expansion of the infrastructure stimulates expansion of the superstructure. It is clear that this can be vitally important for economic growth, fostering democracy, and promoting an exchange of ideas and knowledge of other cultures which favors peace. This is beneficial not only in developed countries, but is of crucial importance for developing countries.

The Global Telecommunication Infrastructure and the Information Society

We celebrate the effect of modern telecommunications in creating a “global village” with the potential for events occurring anywhere to be reported everywhere and for all sorts of information … we must realize that unfortunately, but inevitably, this same infrastructure can serve to propagate distasteful, indecent, or immoral material such as pornography and racist hate propaganda.

The Global Telecommunication Infrastructure and the Information Society

We can imagine some of the possible benefits of this new medium: Shared information resulting in more fluid, global markets; Sharing of the world’s educational and research resources; Pooling the contributions of the creative and intellectual potential of individuals from all parts of the world; Eliminating geographic barriers and the filtering due to the tendency of conventional media to selectively report the words and echo the thoughts of individuals from particular countries and positions in the socio-political hierarchy; Wide range of available entertainment.

The Global Telecommunication Infrastructure and the Information Society

Differing views of how the GII [Global Information Infrastructure] will be built include: Dial-up or leased local loops to the IP (Internet Protocol) routers at the PoPs (Points of Presence) of Internet Service Providers … Bi-directional cable drops from customer premises to telecommunication service providers; The broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN) switching fabric based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode … The entire globe covered by the footprints of circling Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellites connecting conversations or gigabit datastreams … With modern technology a single network of networks will accommodate each of these different views. This single network will be digital.

The Global Telecommunication Infrastructure and the Information Society

There are as many views of what the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) might be as there are segments of the information and communication industry … A high-performance computer network which will facilitate high-speed data access and retrieval … a multimedia network for which the primary use will be conveying video datastreams in conjunction with data, text and voice … a medium for interactive television, in which it is the intelligent television set rather than the home computer or the videophone which is the main communication channel.

Harley Hahn: Author

I think what you will find is that the kids who are using the Net will learn how to use the stuff without any problem at all, and they’ll feel right at home, and when they’re 25 they won’t understand why a 25-year-old would think that anonymous FTP is a difficult thing to learn how to use any more than, at your age, you think how anybody could think that driving is difficult to use.

Harley Hahn: Author

I think we’re just starting to see the potential of human beings, and the Net is starting to do that for us. In a very narrow sense – and I’m being ignorant here – all of human culture and history and effort so far has been sort of concentrating just so we can all get connected up together, and finally we are all getting connected up together, and now we’re going to see what happens.

Harley Hahn: Author

The potential for the Net for people to communicate is much larger than the newspapers and radio and television. I see the Net as being our best hope, in fact, our inevitable hope, and it definitely will happen, for the world finally starting to become a global community and everybody just getting along with everyone else.