The Electronic Identity by Robert Parson Oh yes, you will By now, I'm sure you've seen the ads from A.T. & T. touting their vision of the future. The television ads are so warm and furry. A woman enters a phone booth and calls home, "Tuck your baby in from a phone? You will." They also take the opportunity to touch on the educational aspects of two way video communications. Putting aside the Orwellian aspects of this campaign, it does make us excited about the future of communications. Much of the technology already exists. But it is cumbersome and bulky. Fiber optics has aided the evolution to a large degree. For instance, many colleges and universities now have classes that are conducted by television in real time, allowing students in Fareaches, Nevada to ask questions of a Professor who is lecturing from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The problem is not necessarily hardware or software inadequacies. Those will be solved in time. The real problem is one of jurisdiction. Who is going to be in charge of getting these wonderful advancements into our schools and homes? A.T. & T.'s advertising campaign is an aggressive move on their part to leave the impression at least that they are the leader in interactive communications. Are they? Possibly. What about the nation's largest cable company, TCI? They are planning on spending billions of dollars to build up their systems. Are they the leader? Possibly. What about the Regional Bell Operating Companies? They have direct access into roughly 98% of the nation's homes. They are working on interactive video communications. Are they the leaders? Possibly. What about Microsoft? It appears they are working with everyone to develop software for coming communications revolution. Is it the leader? Possibly. Are you really going to be able to learn to tune up your car from a mechanic in Oslo, Norway? You will. Are you confused? You should be. Should you be confused? No. We really don't even need to worry over it. As with any technological advance, this is an evolutionary process. The pieces will fall together and eventually we will be able to do what we want when we want to. Everyone will carve out their section of the pie. We as consumers will be able to eat from that pie with few, if any problems. Over ten years ago when the federal courts broke up the Bell system, the biggest problem for consumers was over who our long distance vendor would be. Interactive Communications will be much the same, although we likely have our choice of who will provide access lines to the outside world. For many of us, we have two lines coming into our homes for communications-- our local phone line and coax for our cable service. Sometime over the next ten to twenty years, we will have our choice of who will provide one wire for all our communications needs. A ruling in August could be a turning point as far as local access is concerned. A federal judge in Alexandria, VA ruled that Bell Atlantic could provide video programming in many areas now served by only one cable company. Bell Atlantic had argued that preventing them from entering the cable market violated their First Amendment right to free speech. The Justice Department hasn't decided yet whether to appeal the decision. Before now, the RBOCs were prohibited from offering cable services in areas where they provide local phone service, although they could provide cable services outside their phone service area. Even though the ruling immediately affects only one phone company, the decision could very well impact the other Baby Bells. What does Bell Atlantic have planned? Using fiber optics, they want to provide telephone and cable to residents in Alexandria. This system, Bell Atlantic Video Services, will begin to supersede the Bell Atlantic system within the next 18 months barring any other legal roadblocks. ---- McCaw Cellular was recently gobbled up by A.T. & T. This makes A.T. & T. the nation's largest cellular provider. Expect A.T. & T. to use this as part of their move into wireless interactivity. "Time" Magazine is now available on America Online. The issue normally available at newsstands on Mondays will be available online the day before. "Time" editors and writers will also be available to readers through electronic mail. As far as I can tell, only "Time" and USA TODAY are the only national media sources available in online versions without a delay of some sort. A study by Dell Computer says 55 percent of those responding resist taking advantage of new technology. One fourth of the adults surveyed have never used a computer, set a VCR or even programmed a car radio for their favorite stations! This is what the cable and phone companies will be battling during the communications revolution. A weird virus struck on August 16th. The face of Elvis Presley popped up on computer screens on the anniversary of the death of Presley. Global-Intelligence Company of Lemon Grove, California says the virus was contained in a program called "Vital Draw," and was harmless. Oh? A harmless virus? It may not have damaged any data, but what about the fear it caused users? How about the lost productivity caused while users tried to find damage that did not occur? Sorry, there is no such thing as a "harmless" virus. (c) 1993 Robert Parson