The Road Ahead

Abstract

By simplifying communication, the Internet is causing significant, broad changes. This article describes some effects of the Internet on teaching and research: the use of Web pages in teaching, spread of remote statistical analysis, eliminating journal page constraints, and the impact on activities that benefit from debate and discussion. It describes how congestion on the Internet fosters change in pricing and priorities. The article ends by pointing out that although the technical implications of an innovation are predictable, the major social implications often do not become apparent for years.The Web, the Internet, and other aspects of electronic communications are the most important things to happen to computing in the 1990s. They are changing the way we think about computing and, many believe, they have the potential to change our society, our politics, and our culture-not to mention academic institutions and research areas.When we talk about evolution, it is useful to begin with direction. In what direction are we moving? A helpful starting point is to remember what made the Internet explode into a mass phenomenon. A common thread runs through many major changes in computing. For example, text-mode word processors like Wordstar or WordPerfect 5.1 were supplanted by WYSIWSG word processors like Microsoft Word, and command-line interfaces are being replaced by graphical interfaces. Windowing graphical interfaces, when combined with mice and menus, are generally superior because they are easier to learn and often easier to use; they require less technical computer skill to do productive substantive work. The reason can be summarized in a single word: They are simpler. The same thread runs through the Internet: Compared to gophers, FTP, file servers, or e-mail, just having a link on your desktop or in a document is a marvelous improvement. How simple to just click on a link and see all sorts of new stuff. The Web and HTML, with web browsers to tie it all together, made the Internet much easier to use-much simpler. What made the Internet take off is that the barrier to information on your desktop became much, much lower.' 1 The result of the Web breakthrough is the Internet we see today. Today the Internet is something like the early 1980s in personal computers. In the early 1980s, most people buying a personal computer did not know much about computing; they didn't know what to expect, and they were hungry for new experiences. Many people buying computers in the early 1980s AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article is condensed from a presentation for the plenary panel