Futurist schlock: today's cyberhype has a familiar ring; glowing views of the Internet ignore a very old lesson; end of Southern accents
Article Abstract:
The enormous attention given to the Internet and cyberspace is dramatically similar to the same hype given to the telephone when it was first introduced at the turn of the twentieth century. Internet promoters claim that the Internet will become virtually cost-free, allowing businesses to advertise their products and services for next to nothing, which will spell the end of television and large governments. They also believe that the Internet will allow people to form virtual communities across vast distances. Alvin Toffler's 'Future Shock' has become the bible for futurists claiming that the third wave information society is at hand. Internet detractors see the new technology as a destroyer of communities and families. All agree that the Internet is a technology that has never been seen before, but the predictions that accompanied the introduction of the telephone in the early 1900s are remarkably similar in their content and accuracy. The telephone did change society to a certain extent, but not in the manner most of its promoters and detractors had predicted.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1995
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Cox envisions global pipeline for TV and phone signals
Article Abstract:
Cox Cable Communications announces that it is taking a one-quarter stake in Southwestern Bell Corp's British cable systems. The company may also greatly step up efforts to obtain programming for its cable services. Cox Cable currently builds cable systems in which separate fiber-optic lines reach groups of 250 homes. Among other things, this will allow Cox Cable to target advertising to specific neighborhoods. The company also installs extra fiber, which it can then lease to long-distance telephone services that want to go around local phone companies. In 1992, Cox Cable purchased a majority stake in Teleport Communications Group Inc, the biggest US alternative-access provider, a move that has it now battling telephone companies head-on. Cox Cable, which already produces 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' and 'Star Search,' is also expanding its efforts on the programming side.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1993
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Government tackles a surge of smut on the Internet
Article Abstract:
The growing problem of smut on the Internet has led to a proposal that Congress enact legislation imposing two-year prison terms for Internet users who send harassing or obscene transmissions. New York and Oklahoma are among the states looking into legislation that will restrict Internet transmissions that are sexually oriented. Internet activists and civil libertarians are not enthusiastic about legislation controlling networks and online services, however. Some online service vendors are, in fact, planning methods of policing themselves to avoid government intervention. In 1994, in fact, they distributed 100,000 brochures on online safety tips for children and have added features that lock children from specific service areas.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1995
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