| Chapter 1: | A Global, Low-Cost Network Thrives |
“I seriously doubt interoperability will be perfected. I think the pace of change will increase and the amount of interoperability will be jagged. Up and down and up and down as disruptive tech comes and goes and is integrated.” —Mike Gill, electronics engineer, National Library of Medicine
“I don’t know if it will be perfected, but it will be as commonplace as plain, old telephone service used to be.” —Christine Haile, chief information officer, University at Albany, New York
“Technology advances in fits and starts, so yes, networks will be faster and more interoperable, but issues will still remain and even newer technologies come to the fore and need standards and commercial acceptance. And new technologies make possible new threats and annoyances. Who had an issue with e-mail spam 10 years ago?” —Joe Bishop, VP, business development, Marratech AB
“It is merely a case of observing how other mass communications media developed over the 20th century: initially confined to the financially well off, and imitating earlier media before finding their own identity, their own language of expression, and their appropriate niches in the socioeconomic and cultural fabric of society…and just as cinema did not totally replace theatre, nor did television replace cinema, so electronic networks will never entirely substitute newspapers on paper, telephones, or conventional mail. There will simply be more options available. Just like modern buildings stand alongside ancient ones in Japan and other places, advanced networks in 2020 will have to share space with those deliberately choosing slower, simpler means of communication, not as a means of protest, mind you, but as a form of savoring experiences. Remember? Somewhere or other T.S. Eliot said something like, ‘I had the experience, but I forget its significance.’ Thoughtful people in 2020 will probably use high-speed networks for their everyday communications, but surely will use handwritten and snail-mail-delivered wedding invitations or tasteful thank-you notes for especially meaningful communications.” —Fredric M. Litto, professor, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
“This may seem utopian, but with due diligence and involvement from an active Internet Community of Users and NFPs, it is a possibility that we should aim for.” —Cheryl Langdon-Orr, independent Internet business operator; director, ISOC-Australia