Publisher's Synopsis
The "Information Superhighway" is coming soon, and yet we are uncertain exactly what it is - is it the already global Internet, the ever-increasing number of PCs both at home and at work, with databases all over the world telecommunicating with each other, or interactive TV and the expanding miles of fibre optic cable feeding it?;This book aims to answer all these questions, acting as an approachable, understandable survival guide to the subject. Media hype is at fever pitch, and the author attempts to separate myth from reality, and hype from fact, examining the "Info-Highway" from the layman's point of view. Already our working, learning, and living habits have been transformed by the new technologies of the global network. The pace of this change is expected to accelerate even further as the tools of the "Info-Highway" become even more affordable.;The author of this study predicts the effects these changes may have on our lives. The benefits are likely to be enormous, but the risks to privacy, security and personal choice will also be considerable.