University of South Carolina Libraries
V I If | V I New technology By SHASHIDHAR RAMAKA and ANN WINCHELL Staff Writers A New York Times/CBS News Poll indicates most Americans are willing to pay for the privilege of controlling what is shown on their televisions, and recent technological developments can make that, and other things, possible. Equipment in place now combines the capabilities of television, the telephone, and the computer with satellite uplinks to multiply the flow of information, said Ted Creech, a Southern Bell spokesman. The reach of the businessman has already H been expanding over- I seas, and eventually the homeowner will have the privilege of controlling the entertainment coming into the living room, Creech said. With the development of satellite communication and advances in telecommunications, vast amounts of information can be carried from one end of the world to the other. "With the use of fiber optics, a company can carry as many video signals as you want, and the quality is high. Also, improved switching in phone companies rfifr usc j d 0HDER F[ PERSONALIZED PAC ADDITIONAL > . 10 DAY TURNAF WHEN PICK! UNDERGRADUAT PHONE ORDERS WITH F IN COLUMBIA 254-533 01 iTQinc rrvi ihlddia ww i WIUL. wLumum OR COME BY OUR LOCA 1226 PICKENS STREET SUMMER HOURS MON THANI CLAS K will bring intern; can squeeze a lot of information into coj per cables and transmit it," Creech said. The big phone companies bega installing fiber-optic connections betwee major cities in the 1980s, Creech said. Southern Bell has begun laying down th same lines in Columbia this year, he said. Fiber-optic cable uses thin strands c glass that can carry larger amounts of dat in optical currents; but the connection between phones an phone companies, tele visions and local cable TV operators, are nc A yyiJL fiber. Homes won't need t be re-wired before sei Hvice can be complete said Roger Dougal, USC electrical an computer engineerin associate professor. "There are littl boxes that connect t your TV or your computer that change th optical signal to an electrical signal, Dougal said. Already major cable operators and tele phone companies are scrambling to get piece of that pie. Tele-Communication Inc., the world's largest cable-TV operatoi will market a new cable decoder early ne> year that can deliver up to 540 channels Hughes Communications will introduce satellite system that can deliver up to 15* channels, Creech said. SUMMER GRADUATES SOM BALFOUR AND SAVE GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMI KAGE OF 15- $21.75 \NNOUNCEMENTS $1.45 EA SOUND - NO SHIPPING CHAF ED UP AT OUR LOCAL OFFIC p pap nn\a/m amn taqqpi . l_ vyr*i \jivttm r\mi^ i nuwuu ULL PAYMENT c, 0 1-800-526-0290 L OFFICE SUITE 5 -THURS 8:00 TO 3:00 ? "? Fr" , < YOU-BUDDY ROTH "^T1S OF 72 ational services in )- Major companies are building their ow interactive networks so anything the cu: n tomer wants to see will be as close as n phone call or the buttons on your TV set. The role of existing broadcast networl ie can be taken over by libraries of inform. tion owned by businesses, which can rela >f the data anywhere in the world by satellite a Users can link up with communicatic is lines and request anything, includin d movies, the latest books and business information 5- from any company. Users < >t This will probably be a with CO "pay-per-use kind of |infes a o thing," Dougal said. "And South Carolina any thin 5, banks already have the movies a ability to link up with books i d international business. If . i i mi .. imorm g you look, you 11 see the satellite dishes on their any com e roofs," Creech said. o Commercial compae nies put their own satellites into space " IntelSat and ComSat are consortiums t which businesses contribute to develo space communication; also, the phon a companies have them, Dougal said. s "I regularly communicate with people i r, foreign countries through InterNet, :t Dougal said. %D -eS_lair_ i. m tne June issue ot America a Journalism Review, John Morton, a news 0 paper analyst with Lynch, Jones & Ryai hints at a time in the future when we ma t0si do rooi ENTS Bryton I apartme / M on 1 or^ ^GES 24 he E 5 mir Distin $16 QQ Full si; use ZtiT: BDY1 Stasia M I Dunbar ^ i Punaral Hama COIUf wniiwinL to consumers' homes n carry around electronic newspapers in our ^ ?- pockets for instant news, or stock quotes, a or any of the information usually found in a JL newspaper or with a phone. ts He said America is now rearing a gener- N/ "* ation educated in schools to use video dis- I0N iy play terminals as primary sources of infor- X mation. |f \ "T? Jo ?ovooJK1a ?k?l ?KJo I Y I ii io puooiuig uiai wiu^ii una ggiiuauuu / \ comes of age in 10 or \) 20 years, using an /\ can link up electronic display S/ mmunication 131)161 or a home ter" w md request nal will be second X nature," Morton said. \y ig. including havint the X ' latest capability available SF ind business does not assure that a ry ation from mass market will X ipany. develop, because most \s consumers don't have O a pressing need for yC i. instant information, Morton said. \y o The biggest advantage to the consumer P is they will no longer have to settle on \7 e whatever happens to be on TV for their Cj relaxation and entertainment. They will |)C " have a wide array of choices on programs, \~y dial-a-movie, interactive video games, /\ video phone calls to friends, or books from V electronic libraries. Communications will no longer be a passive experience, but an X. y active, two-way process. \/ YOU LIKE YOUR IfIMM 1 DU 1 n/\ I EL YOUR DORM? Pointe has "roommate friendly" >nts for you and your roommate. I bedrooms from $435 - $565 )ur pool, jacuzzi 8c weight room lutes from campus ctive Estate Homes 7P u/n<ih<=ir/rlrvpir r^nnorH-innc PON POINTED . 100 Bryton Trace nbia. South Carolina 29210 803/772-9409 A AJ