Next: Conclusions
Up: SuperComputing-94 --- Networking Technologies
Previous: The Gigabit Networking
This section of this report on networking technologies at
SuperComputing '94 highlights some of the comments made at the
Future of the Internet panel. Many of the comments reported here
also appear as sound-bites --- single, notable catch-phrases. Given
the short time for presentations by the members of the panel, the
talks often made only one or two significant points. The demographics
of the panelists included politicians, businessmen, and networking
experts. All comments reported here are from the panelists unless
otherwise specified.
- Presently there is vertical integration in our
telecommunications infrastructure, ie., telephony, video, and data.
We need horizontal applications, that combine all aspects of
multimedia. Presently, telephony, video, and data exist in totally
separate user architectures: we have separate media bringing our
telephone service and video entertainment into our homes and
businesses. High bandwidth data communications must also be provided
over separate communications lines or even separate media. We need a
communications format, available to all, that combines voice services,
both video broadcast and video transmission, and high-speed data lines
available in a multimedia format to a customer base that includes all
households and business - large or small.
- The technology of the Internet is the enabler, but the
Internet is all about people. It was predicted that 98% of American
homes will have networking technology by 2000-2020. (I believe that
number is somewhat high, given the age, education, and earning
demographics proposed for this country in that time frame. I believe
that a substantially smaller percentage of Americans will have any
interest, have the time, understand how to use, and be able to afford
the technology in their homes. NYNEX places the percentage of homes
that it plans to cost effectively connect onto the Information
Superhighway at approximately 60%.)
- Given the potential of an expanded version of the Internet, it
is conceivable that the last 500 years may be referred to as the
gray ages.
- The Internet will be able to support:
- Virtual Organizations
- Virtual Communities
- Virtual Universities
- Virtual Governments
-

- Two years ago, no one understood the interest in and the
potential for virtual communities, but Mosaic has proven to be a
matrix upon which to build virtual communities. Mosaic has grown
10,000 fold in the last 18 months.
- The Internet is no longer a technical revolution, but rather a
social revolution. People are the killer applications of the 1990s.
- Today's tools, grep, ftp, Mosaic, etc., are not good
enough --- especially if there is a desire to mandate the Internet for
nearly all homes in America.
- Information will be mined for personal and corporate use by
smart agents, aka., knowledge-robots or knowbots. But
information will take on the characteristics of property, and have
economic value. As a result, enhanced encryption techniques will be
required to replace public key encryption in order to simplify key
management and to enhance reliability.
- There was a request from those representing the Clinton
Administration, Laura Breeden (DoC/NTIA) and Jonathan Gill (The White
House), to emphasize the development of Internet tools for electronic
Town Halls.
- A question was posed on the viability of the concept of a
Virtual University. The panel readily agreed that the Virtual
University will not replace the right-of-passage that a young person
endures by permitting a student to take classes from his/her home, but
rather the Virtual University should be an opportunity for
students to experience the greatest intellectuals by being able to
have a virtual presence at classes that includes viewing the lecture
and being able to directly participate in class discussions.
Next: Conclusions
Up: SuperComputing-94 --- Networking Technologies
Previous: The Gigabit Networking
David P. Koester
Sun Oct 22 13:05:27 EDT 1995