The Web of the future

The Internet has been moving toward new and exciting forms over the past ten years. The question that professionals in the area have been asking is whether or not the television is going to turn into an all-purpose computer, or if the computer is going to provide television shows through the Internet.

by Jennifer Nespoli features editor

War is afoot.

A technology war. Most do not see it, but those in the field of communication are watching the signs very intently.

In an effort to stay in the competition, television sets have been slimming down, the Internet has been speeding up, video is going digital and cable is avidly flaunting its wide bandwidth.

Meanwhile, the future of print is uncertain. Don Dempsey, assistant professor of graphic design, is fairly sure that print will not fade out. He believes that newspapers and other print media will remain a part of the 21st century.

"We are moving closer to a totally digital environment," he said. That means that while newspapers and magazines will still get printed every day, there will much more information available on the Internet. All data will be easily converted into a digital file and posted on the Internet.

''We won't stop printing things," Dempsey said. "We'll just print less."

The reliability of the Internet and the public's trust are two factors that will influence what the Internet is used for in the coming years. Right now commerce on the Internet is gaining popularity, but Dr. Jerry Zurek, professor of english and communication, is not sure if that trend will continue.

''It's hard to tell what people will rely on [the Internet] for," he said. He pointed out that Amazon.com, the first online bookseller, has yet to make a profit. People are buying stock because they are betting on the fact that the company will be profitable in the future. For now, though, Amazon.com has yet to break even.

Until the public's trust is secured, Zurek does not continued from previous page sees an isolated future in terms of technology. Technology, she claims, makes it possible to do business and not see anyone or have any human interaction all day long. She sees technology as eventually stratifying society. "Mixture among the human race is necessary." Schwarze said. "Human talking doesn't take place and people become very selfish and egocentric." think that newspapers will be in jeopardy. However, they have to combat the problem of losing readership.

Paolucci claims that three major trends will begin occurring in the technology field in the next century. These trends will affect not only Cabrini students, but the educational system as a whole.

Paolucci claims that students will begin to access all of their information from the Web and Internet. He states that the Web and Internet will become "an ubiquitous information delivery system."

Younger people are not reading newspapers today as much as they were in years past, according to Zurek. Usually people have begin reading papers as they get older, but no one knows if that will be the case with this generation.

''The better papers are trying to become a necessary part of the region," said Zurek. "Local newspapers are thriving."

The reason local papers are stealing regional readership is that local newspapers have the stories people want to read. They cover little league games and town meetings. Local newspapers carve their own small niches in a market that is less concerned with citizenship than it used to be. "Suburban people don't see themselves as Philadelphians," Zurek said. Metropolitan newspapers are struggling all over the country because people in suburbs do not consider themselves city folk and have no desire to read about what happens in the city.

One indication that Zurek sees of how people are responding to news on the Web is sports. Sports fans are most likely to read a newspaper everyday to get their information, even though they could get it from ESPN or the Internet.

That does not mean that newspapers can sit pretty in the reassurance that their existence is likely to last into the next century. All papers will eventually need to develop of strong Internet presence if they hope to stay competitive.

Like Yungmann, Paolucci also foresees technology making strides in distance learning.

"Students will have access to information, knowledge, instructors and subject matter experts around the clock;' Paolucci said. "From anywhere in the world."

His third prediction is that learning will be a life-long process. The system of beginning schooling at age six and ending at age 21 will be obsolete. Paolucci feels that learning at the collegiate level will be more relevant, more practical and more integrated.

Yungmann is expanding Cabrini's technological horizons by offering the Communication 377 course. The class is designed to explore new trends in technology, its development and its effects on everyday life.

Paolucci foresees the general public's lives changing drastically with new technology. Many household devices will be run by computer. Our refrigerators, ovens, toasters, even our homes themselves will have computers running them. The appliances will be Web based, so that homeowners would be able to control them from wherever they traveled.

They are also starting to team up with television. The Inquirer tried to start a news show on Channel 17. Although the show failed, Zurek sees television as a trend that newspapers are moving toward.

Is it a trend that the computer is moving toward also? Since both the computer and the television have a screen that can show video, they are beginning to compete for Internet capabilities, according to Dempsey. Now that television can handle digital video, it is a strong contender in this race.

One thing that Dempsey is certain of is that the Internet will start handling much more video than it does now. That puts it in immediate competition with television.

"An interesting dilemma is if the TV is going to be the Internet or if the Internet is going to be the TV," Dempsey said.

One factor that will influence the competition is screen size. Bigger television screens make for better viewing capabilities. However, computer screens are also changing their look. Laptop and notebook computers already have flat screens, and are far lighter than television screens. PC screens can come in the 21-inch size.

As modem speeds increase, so too will the amount of information that is shoved through the wires.

Speaking of wires, Dempsey believes that someday there will be wireless networks. People will use satellite technology to bounce their signals around, just as cellular phones do now. Already some cell phones can receive and send e-mail. In the near future Dempsey forsees a switch to fiber optic wire, but he thinks that we will eventually have satellite-based networks.

Whatever happens, one thing is for sure.

"Computers are going to become more and more sophisticated because we are becoming more and more dependent on them," Dempsey said.

Portability seems to be the theme for technology in the next century. If current trends continue, soon computers will all be small and portable and not sitting on our desks. Wrist watches will have Internet access, and even our homes will be Web accessible. Paolucci sees these examples of future technology and information at the public's fingertips a boon for society.

"Leaming will be a part of all the work we do in life." Paolucci said. "The major objective of any working activity will be to learn."