Mosaic browser opens Internet to public over proprietary networks

The Computer Chronicles

The decentralized, user-controlled architecture of the Internet democratizes global communication, but citizens must actively defend these open virtual communities as corporate and government interests seek to carve up the network.

AI-assisted summary of The Computer Chronicles - The Internet (1993) — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2012-11-15

Key ideas

NCSA's Mosaic browser is shifting Internet navigation from esoteric UNIX terminal commands to an intuitive point-and-click hypertext interface, transforming ordinary users into grassroots publishers and introducing the concept of 'net surfing.' (3:08)
NASA Science Internet is developing packet video teleconferencing over packet-switched IP lines, cutting hourly cross-site connection costs from $50–$100 down to approximately $10 with desktop systems slated for schools within 3 to 5 years. (6:31)
Internet Talk Radio launches as the first digital audio broadcast service, distributing asynchronous sound files via the World Wide Web that bypass traditional linear broadcast models. (16:42)
Virtual communities such as The WELL illustrate how computer networks function as social gathering spaces, prompting calls from authors like Howard Rheingold to preserve an open civic 'social Green Belt' against corporate enclosure. (19:09)

Detailed notes

## Background This episode was published on YouTube by the official channel The Computer Chronicles on November 15, 2012, archiving an original 1993 broadcast. The show description extends special thanks to archive.org for hosting downloadable episodes of the series.

## TL;DR Host Stewart Cheifet explores the arrival of Marshall McLuhan's 'global village' through the rapidly expanding Internet, contrasting its open, user-driven architecture with closed commercial services like CompuServe. The broadcast surveys pioneering technologies including Aladdin Systems' SITcomm dialup utility, ARPA-backed NCSA Mosaic, NASA's low-cost desktop packet video, and Bellcore's library-focused MOREnet infrastructure. Author Brendan Kehoe demonstrates practical navigation using Gopher, Finger, and anonymous FTP, while Carl Malamud and author Howard Rheingold discuss the cultural impact of on-demand Internet Talk Radio and virtual communities on The WELL. The episode concludes with Rheingold urging the preservation of public civic spaces online alongside a weekly roundup of new portable hardware and software.

## Atmosphere & style The program exudes an earnest, early-1990s techno-optimism characterized by quiet awe and thoughtful journalistic curiosity toward an uncharted frontier. Anchored by Stewart Cheifet's calm, deliberate cadence, the studio demonstrations feel delightfully unvarnished as guests navigate live dialup delays, terminal screens, and modem handshakes. Watching it feels like opening a time capsule to the precise moment when cyberspace shifted from an obscure military and academic network into an accessible, human-centric cultural revolution.

## Bulletin - [03:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=188s) NCSA's Mosaic browser is shifting Internet navigation from esoteric UNIX terminal commands to an intuitive point-and-click hypertext interface, transforming ordinary users into grassroots publishers and introducing the concept of 'net surfing.' - [06:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=391s) NASA Science Internet is developing packet video teleconferencing over packet-switched IP lines, cutting hourly cross-site connection costs from $50–$100 down to approximately $10 with desktop systems slated for schools within 3 to 5 years. - [16:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1002s) Internet Talk Radio launches as the first digital audio broadcast service, distributing asynchronous sound files via the World Wide Web that bypass traditional linear broadcast models. - [19:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1149s) Virtual communities such as The WELL illustrate how computer networks function as social gathering spaces, prompting calls from authors like Howard Rheingold to preserve an open civic 'social Green Belt' against corporate enclosure.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=0s) Aladdin Systems' SITcomm software eliminates manual terminal scripting by automating connection handshakes and automatically decompressing downloaded files across multiple archive formats. - [03:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=188s) ARPA's post-Sputnik research into time-sharing and packet-switching established the foundational bitways and computing infrastructure that underpin the modern Internet. - [03:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=188s) NCSA Mosaic democratizes Internet access by treating millions of interconnected computers like local files on a desktop, eliminating the requirement for specialized computing skills. - [06:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=391s) Desktop packet video allows synchronized audio and video to travel over standard Internet lines, drastically undercutting the cost of dedicated broadcast teleconferencing suites. - [09:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=549s) Unlike proprietary, centralized networks such as CompuServe and Prodigy, the Internet has no central authority, giving any connected user the freedom to host services and publish content. - [09:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=581s) Menu-driven tools like Gopher enable distributed querying across nationwide servers, allowing users to browse job registries, magazine archives, and remote library indices. - [09:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=581s) Repurposed administrative utilities like Finger broadcast live pop culture charts, while anonymous FTP allows public downloading of primary government documents and international treaties. - [09:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=581s) Early network electronic commerce is restricted by unresolved security hurdles regarding credit card transmission, as well as unpredictable latency across decentralized servers. - [09:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=581s) Standard dialup Internet connectivity is accessible for $10 to $20 per month, supported by referral resources such as the InterNIC helpline. - [13:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=811s) Bellcore's MOREnet project tests the National Information Infrastructure by linking public library branches to global Internet repositories and structured electronic publishing platforms. - [16:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1002s) Internet Talk Radio demonstrates on-demand, asynchronous media consumption, giving listeners total control over skipping, pausing, and archiving digital audio broadcasts. - [19:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1149s) The WELL organizes conversation threads into virtual communities where geographic boundaries fall away and participants share critical emotional, parental, and technical support. - [22:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1335s) Civic advocates argue for maintaining an uncommercialized digital 'social Green Belt' to preserve peer-to-peer citizen dialogue as governments and telecom giants build out the information superhighway. - [22:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1335s) While computer networking connects people across vast distances, it introduces an emotional barrier, demanding caution until online relationships are verified in person.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=0s) Introduction to the Global Village and Aladdin Systems' SITcomm

Opening the broadcast, host Stewart Cheifet invokes media theorist Marshall McLuhan's vision of an interconnected electronic community that would shrink the globe. Stewart declares that this "global village" has officially arrived, and its main street is the Internet, where users across the planet meet to exchange ideas. With interest exploding and guidebooks hitting bookstores weekly, Cheifet introduces David Schargel from Aladdin Systems to showcase SITcomm, a telecommunications program designed to eliminate the arcane terminal commands traditionally required to dial into the Internet and transfer files.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: SITcomm Connection and File Retrieval Process accDescr: Diagram illustrating how SITcomm dials an Internet provider, downloads a remote archive, and automatically decompresses it for local viewing.

subgraph Connection ["Connection Phase"] A["Address Book Profile"] -->|"Automated Scripting"| B["Dialup Provider (e.g., NETCOM)"] B -->|"Login & Password Handshake"| C["Shell / Command Prompt"] end

subgraph Transfer ["Transfer & Unpacking Phase"] C -->|"FTP Download"| D["Compressed File (.sit /.zip /.tar.Z)"] D -->|"Hang Up Modem"| E["Automatic Post-Session Decompression"] end

subgraph Local ["Local Viewing Phase"] E --> F["Native Document (e.g., Clinton Inaugural Address)"] end ```

Schargel demonstrates how SITcomm streamlines connection routines through a built-in address book. Rather than manually scripting login sequences, the user enters basic account credentials, and SITcomm handles the back-and-forth prompts automatically. Schargel initiates a connection to NETCOM, a prominent dialup Internet provider, while pointing out that SITcomm contains preconfigured settings for other popular dialup gateways like The WELL and The World, major online services like CompuServe, GEnie, MCI Mail, and Dow Jones, as well as local bulletin board systems (BBSs). Once connected, Schargel issues a command to download a file previously retrieved via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Upon completing the modem transfer, SITcomm disconnects from the line and automatically decompresses the archive locally on the Macintosh. Schargel opens the resulting text document right inside SITcomm, revealing the complete transcript of President Bill Clinton’s inaugural address.

- SITcomm handles script automation by recognizing standard host prompts, knowing precisely when to submit usernames and passwords. - The built-in decompression engine handles Mac-native StuffIt files as well as PC archives (ZIP and ARC) and UNIX standards common to the Internet (UNIX compress `.Z`, TAR, and UUencode).

---

[03:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=188s) ARPA, the Enterprise Room, and the Birth of NCSA Mosaic

Stewart Cheifet traces the roots of the Internet back to its origin as a Department of Defense network created to link disparate nationwide research centers. A segment visits the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in Arlington, Virginia. ARPA was established under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the wake of the Soviet launch of Sputnik, charged with preventing future technological surprises. Over decades, ARPA's initiatives evolved from early time-sharing computers and computer graphics into packet-switched networking, personal computing, and scalable high-performance computing.

At ARPA headquarters, Steven Squires, Director of High Performance Communications Research, welcomes viewers to the "bridge" of the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Enterprise room—styled deliberately after the Starship *Enterprise* from *Star Trek*. Squires showcases a central status viewscreen displaying a dynamic map of the high-speed bitways piping national network traffic into the Washington, D.C. area. Beyond serving internal military needs, the Enterprise environment welcomes visiting academic and federal researchers to collaborate and develop software across agencies.

The most transformative tool emerging from this government-funded ecosystem is Mosaic, a graphical hypertext interface engineered by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) with ARPA support. Mosaic transforms the user experience by substituting cryptic UNIX commands with a seamless point-and-click browser that navigates remote servers as if they were local folders. Describing the software's democratization of the Internet, an NCSA spokesperson explains:

> “The thing that makes Mosaic special is that it gives everyone access without there having to be a rocket scientist, they don't have to be trained in esoteric computing, grade school kids can use it—in fact, we're installing it in schools, because it's a point-and-click interface, and that point-and-click, instead of going through information that's on your personal computer, it's as if there's a million computers on the internet inside your own personal computer.”

The report highlights how Mosaic facilitates grassroots digital publishing, turning everyday citizens into publishers who share their passions with the world. As the segment concludes, the interface is praised for turning network exploration into casual leisure: “What Mosaic does is it provides a window into this incredible cyberspace, this information space that's developing, and it allows you to simply what we call 'net surf' looking for cool stuff—that's what the kids say they're doing, that's the whole mentality of this.”

---

[06:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=391s) NASA Science Internet and Desktop Packet Video Conferencing

Returning to the studio, Stewart Cheifet introduces Brendan Kehoe, author of the seminal guide *Zen and the Art of the Internet*, noting that a new edition of the book is due out in January. As Kehoe begins logging into a live session, the broadcast cuts to an on-site profile of the NASA Science Internet (NSI) operations center located at Moffett Field, California. The NSI links mission scientists around the globe. While the public can retrieve general educational materials and mission data from NASA via the open Internet, accounts on the NSI backbone itself are strictly segregated and require direct NASA funding or official program affiliation.

The major breakthrough highlighted at NSI is "packet video"—a protocol suite and video compression architecture designed to route synchronized audio and video streams directly over packet-switched Internet lines rather than dedicated, expensive satellite or ISDN broadcast circuits. A NASA engineer emphasizes the dramatic cost disparity between legacy broadcast teleconferencing and desktop IP video:

> “Video conferencing facilities typically cost 10 to 20 times as much as the desktop video conferencing technology we're developing here at NASA.”

- Dedicated videoconferencing facilities cost 10 to 20 times more than desktop internet video rigs, and traditional dedicated cross-site teleconferencing links run between $50 and $100 per hour. - Routing packet video over standard wide-area Internet connections drops operational interconnectivity costs to approximately $10 per hour. - Prototype systems stream video at roughly 2 frames per second (fps); deployment of refined 10 to 12 fps desktop workstations is slated within 2 years. - Future applications under development include interactive shared whiteboards for joint document analysis, live video links to Antarctic research expeditions, remote planetary exploration rover telemetry, and wide-area virtual reality environments. - NASA projects that within 3 to 5 years, this packet video infrastructure will roll out to public schools across the country, allowing classrooms to share distance-learning lectures from master teachers and specialized researchers.

---

[09:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=549s) Brendan Kehoe on Why the Internet Surpasses Proprietary Networks

Back in the studio with Brendan Kehoe logged on, Stewart asks what separates the Internet from well-established commercial online services such as CompuServe or Prodigy, questioning why the computer community is generating so much buzz around it. Kehoe clarifies that commercial services operate as centralized, tightly curated walled gardens that confine users strictly to features the corporate owners decide to monetize or program. In contrast, the Internet belongs to no single entity or corporate conglomerate. Kehoe captures the open ethos of the network:

> “Where on the internet anyone can put any service on and have it do anything they want with it at any—it's completely molded by the people who use it.”

Kehoe underscores that this lack of top-down corporate control makes the Internet uniquely democratic: anyone connected to the network has the autonomy to erect new servers, publish unique resources, and invent novel applications without seeking approval from a centralized gatekeeper. Cheifet invites Kehoe to demonstrate practical examples of what ordinary users can accomplish on this sprawling network.

[09:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=581s) Navigating with Gopher, Finger, and Anonymous FTP

Continuing a live demonstration of Internet capabilities, the guest demonstrates how to look up employment opportunities for a friend who recently earned her teaching certificate and is seeking work in the Northeast. To conduct the search, he uses Gopher, a menu-based retrieval tool that lets a user burrow through disparate network servers and pull up resources wherever they reside. Accessing the Online Career Center hosted on a server in Michigan, he searches the keyword “teacher.” Beyond reviewing job openings—such as a substitute teacher position at the Bay View Health Care Center complete with contact details, telephone numbers, requirements, and salary information—the system also permits recruiters to search uploaded résumés.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Internet Exploration Tools Flow accDescr: Diagram showing user navigation through Gopher, Finger, and Anonymous FTP applications. subgraph GopherNav["Gopher Client"] A["Search Query: 'teacher'"] --> B["Online Career Center (Michigan)"] B --> C["Job Listing: Bay View Health Care Center"] D["Electronic Newsstand"] --> E["The New Republic: Editorial on NAFTA"] end subgraph Utilities["Network Tools"] F["Finger Protocol"] --> G["Billboard Charts / Pop Culture Data"] H["Anonymous FTP (UNC)"] --> I["Full Text NAFTA Treaties & US Budget"] end ```

The demonstration turns to the lighter, more idiosyncratic side of network culture via the Finger protocol. While originally intended to check whether specific users are currently logged into a remote system, administrators have repurposed Finger outputs to broadcast customized trivia, Billboard charts, and sports scores. Displaying the current week's Billboard top R&B singles, the guest spots Mariah Carey at number five, sparking a discussion about electronic commerce. Host Stewart Cheifet questions whether one can legitimately purchase merchandise over the network. The demonstrator acknowledges that financial transactions remain a delicate challenge: “It's a very sticky situation because one of the biggest problems is security and transfer of money and that kind of thing but many systems have actually set it up so that you can do things on the internet involving money transfering credit cards and that sort of thing.” When attempting to connect to the Compact Disc Connection to buy the album, the system lags. Remarking on the autonomous, decentralized nature of the net—where every server sets its own pace and packet delivery is guaranteed eventually, but without traffic control—they abort the purchase and switch tasks.

Returning to Gopher, the demonstrator navigates the Electronic Newsstand to read magazine articles. Browsing *The New Republic* alongside publications like *Internet World* and *Foreign Affairs*, he retrieves the full text of an editorial on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). To obtain the primary document itself, he jumps to an archive at the University of North Carolina via anonymous FTP. By entering “anonymous” at the login prompt and submitting an email address as the password, users can freely browse public file repositories containing government data like the federal budget and complete treaty texts partitioned by chapter and appendix.

- **InterNIC Helpline**: Inquirers uncertain about local Internet access can contact the InterNIC helpline at 1-800-444-4345 for regional provider recommendations. - **Estimated End-User Cost**: Standard consumer access ranges between $10 and $20 per month.

---

[13:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=811s) Bellcore, Broadband Pipelines, and MOREnet in Public Libraries

At Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) in New Jersey—the research and engineering arm serving the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies—engineers focus on building the physical and software infrastructure required for the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Current research tackles digital transmission expansion across existing telephone lines, including early video-on-demand architectures and experimental desktop videoconferencing platforms like Cruiser. Bellcore Research Director Steve Weinstein highlights the telecom sector’s stake in underpinning these data streams: “We believe that the public network, the owners of Bellcore, can be providers as significant providers of those kinds of facilities that the future broadband internet is going to need.”

Beyond transmission speeds, Bellcore investigates public usability and community interaction with electronic data through a pilot deployment known as MOREnet in Morris County, New Jersey. Expanding on the county’s pre-existing automated inter-library catalog, MOREnet links local branch terminals directly to the global Internet. Library patrons gain public terminal access to overseas library catalogs, the CIA World Factbook, real-time weather information, and SuperBook—a proprietary Bellcore hypertext interface that enables publishers to host large databases centrally while serving clean, structured documents across devices ranging from basic ASCII terminals to sophisticated workstations. Patrons have responded with sheer awe at traversing worldwide connections in seconds, demonstrating that the future public network can successfully bridge local civic centers with international repositories.

---

[16:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1002s) Virtual Communities and Asynchronous Internet Radio

Host Stewart Cheifet introduces author Howard Rheingold, author of *The Virtual Community*, to explore the cultural and human dimensions of online networks. Before diving into Rheingold’s experience with the pioneering online bulletin board The WELL, the program visits Washington, D.C., to profile Carl Malamud, the mastermind behind Internet Talk Radio—the world’s first digital audio broadcast service operating from a studio inside the National Press Club building.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Internet Talk Radio Production Flow accDescr: Diagram illustrating audio recording at the National Press Club uploaded to the Web for on-demand user consumption. A["National Press Club Studio"] --> B["Record: Geek of the Week & Luncheons"] B --> C["Audio Data Files Uploaded via WWW"] C --> D["User Retrieval: On-Demand / Asynchronous"] D --> E["User Control: Pause, Skip, or Extract Audio"] ```

Malamud describes how the venture grew organically out of his frustration with traditional print publishing economics after writing seven computer books: “It's one of those ideas that started as a hobby and kind of went nuts. I wrote books about computers, I wrote seven books and I wrote magazine articles and I was looking for a magazine about the internet and there wasn't one and I wanted to start one, but that's expensive because you have to print paper and you have to mail paper and you have to audit who gets the paper so you can get it back to your advertisers and I decided Gee let's do something on the network.” Distributing digital audio files via the World Wide Web and email (`info@radio.com`), his programming features in-depth technical interviews on *Geek of the Week* as well as recordings of National Press Club guest luncheons. Malamud emphasizes that computer-delivered audio fundamentally breaks traditional linear broadcast models in favor of asynchronous, user-controlled listening, where individuals can pause programs during phone calls or bypass segments entirely. He looks forward to an era when both established journalists like Nina Totenberg and everyday citizens publish directly to the global network.

Returning to the studio, Howard Rheingold connects the technical plumbing to human society. Describing his participation on The WELL, Rheingold contrasts mere physical data routing with social interaction, drawing an analogy: if the Internet functions as a digital superhighway, then the information and software files floating across it serve as libraries and warehouses, while online discussion forums act as the vibrant cafes, town halls, and gathering places that transform connectivity into human community.

- **Primary Program Offerings**: Internet Talk Radio’s flagship content consists of technical discussions on *Geek of the Week* alongside high-profile speeches from the National Press Club luncheon circuit. - **Asynchronous Listening Concept**: Rather than adhering to fixed broadcast clocks, listeners download the audio files as discrete data packets, giving them full autonomy to pause, skip uninteresting segments, or extract specific technical content at will.

[19:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1149s) The WELL and the Architecture of Virtual Communities

Howard Rheingold demonstrates the Whole Earth Lectronic Link (The WELL), explaining that an online network is fundamentally not just a repository of data or goods, but a genuine human community accessible across the Internet. On his computer monitor, Rheingold displays a directory of conferences structured by human communication. Broad topic areas range from social responsibility and politics (encompassing debate on everything from the environment to firearms) to media, communications, business, and livelihood. In these conference sections, every thread acts as an ongoing archive of conversations among participants. Comparing the system to real life, Rheingold observes: “It's as if you walked into a cocktail party and you reeled back a conversation to the beginning so you could see what people were talking about.”

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Structure of The WELL accDescr: Hierarchical organization of discussions on The WELL platform

A["The WELL System"] --> B["Topic Conferences"]

subgraph B["Topic Conferences"] C["Social Responsibility & Politics<br/>(Environment, Firearms)"] D["Business & Livelihood"] E["Media & Communications"] F["Parenting Conference"] G["Macintosh Conference"] end

F --> H["Threads / Conversations<br/>(Jealousy, Martial Arts, Photos)"] G --> I["Technical Support & Expert Debates"] ```

Rheingold highlights the Parenting conference as a discussion area close to his heart, where participants bypass technical chatter to discuss personal family life. Inside, users seek advice on finding martial arts instructors, handling jealousy in three-year-olds, raising children in the era of cyberspace, or posting baby pictures online. Rheingold explains how this provides a ready-made support system during crises: when a member shared that his son had received a leukemia diagnosis, participants rushed to assist within minutes. The support went far beyond kind words; doctors, nurses, and leukemia survivors logged on to provide guidance. Rheingold notes that the network dissolves geographical borders, pointing out that someone jumping onto an Internet on-ramp in Tokyo enters the same Parenting conference a second later: “So that's what I mean by a virtual community is the the time and space constraints of our normal communities are not there it's what we're interested in and what we talk with each other about that really defines our community here.”

- Discussion threads in each conference area run for screens and log hundreds of distinct exchanges over time. - On technical boards like the Macintosh conference, users seeking help often find knowledgeable peers actively competing to resolve technical issues when local help is unavailable.

[22:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1335s) Democratic Promise and the Pitfalls of Online Interaction

Stewart Cheifet queries Rheingold on the broader social significance of these networks, asking whether online interactions represent a permanent shift in how humans relate. Rheingold affirms the political and civic weight of the technology, arguing that modern citizens have surrendered widespread direct dialogue to passive mass media consumption. While telecommunications conglomerates and federal governments maneuver to carve up the emerging digital realm, Rheingold insists on defending open communication spaces for regular citizens: “When these big deals with the big companies and the big governments carve up this new territory I feel it's very important that we keep a kind of social Green Belt that we keep the ability for citizens to talk amongst each other.”

Cheifet questions the limitations and emotional trade-offs of purely digital relationships compared to face-to-face contact. Rheingold acknowledges the emotional distance that screens can create and issues a note of caution: “I think it's important to remember that just as the computer can connect us with people it can also distance us from people and you need to know that just as you can't trust everyone you talk to on the telephone you can't trust everyone you meet in a virtual community until you meet them and get to know them offline.”

[23:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1421s) Random Access: Hardware, Software, and Space Exploration

Janelle Stelson presents the weekly *Random Access* segment, reviewing the latest entries in portable hardware, contact management software, and peripheral integrations:

- **Canon Innova Book 10 / 10C Subnotebooks:** Canon introduced this family of monochrome and color 486SL subnotebooks weighing 4 pounds. Running MS-DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1, one model incorporates Canon's smallest-ever internal Bubble Jet printer. Systems range in price from $1,600 to just over $2,000. - **Panasonic DX4 75 MHz Notebook:** Features a modular "multimedia pocket." Its pop-out floppy drive bay can be swapped for an internal CD-ROM drive, a spare battery pack, or a TV tuner card. Prices run from $5,400 to $5,900. - **Symantec ACT! 2.0 for Windows:** The contact manager update adds network multi-user support, integrated email connectivity, and improved calendar printing features, alongside an edition tailored for HP palmtop PCs. - **Alacrity Systems Office-in-a-Box:** A $500 hardware/software package including a desktop scanner, fax modem, and Alacrity software that turns standard PC and printer setups into a combined digital copier, plain-paper fax, and digital filing cabinet. - **Alpha Books' *Computers in Space: Journeys with NASA*:** Published for the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, this volume compiles rare photography and historical accounts tracing computer evolution across early spaceflights through future planetary exploration.

## Notable quotes > [22:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0&t=1335s) When these big deals with the big companies and the big governments carve up this new territory I feel it's very important that we keep a kind of social Green Belt that we keep the ability for citizens to talk amongst each other. — Howard Rheingold

## Mentioned Stewart Cheifet, David Schargel, Aladdin Systems, SITcomm, Marshall McLuhan, NETCOM, The WELL, The World, CompuServe, GEnie, MCI Mail, Dow Jones, Bill Clinton, ARPA, Steven Squires, NCSA Mosaic, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Dwight D. Eisenhower, Brendan Kehoe, Zen and the Art of the Internet, NASA Science Internet (NSI), Prodigy, Gopher, Online Career Center, Bay View Health Care Center, Finger protocol, Billboard, Mariah Carey, Compact Disc Connection, Electronic Newsstand, The New Republic, Internet World, Foreign Affairs, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), University of North Carolina, InterNIC, Bellcore, National Information Infrastructure (NII), Cruiser, Steve Weinstein, MOREnet, CIA World Factbook, SuperBook, Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community, Carl Malamud, Internet Talk Radio, National Press Club, Geek of the Week, Nina Totenberg, Janelle Stelson, Canon Innova Book 10 / 10C, Panasonic DX4 75 MHz Notebook, Symantec ACT! 2.0 for Windows, Alacrity Systems Office-in-a-Box, Computers in Space: Journeys with NASA, Alpha Books

## Video description Special thanks to archive.org for hosting these episodes. Downloads of all these episodes and more can be found at: http://archive.org/details/computerchronicles

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_o8gerare0)

中文简报

Mosaic浏览器力克专有网络，引领互联网走向公众互联网去中心化、由用户主导的架构推动了全球传播的民主化，但随着企业和政府利益试图瓜分网络，公民必须积极捍卫这些开放的虚拟社区。主持人Stewart Cheifet探讨了随着互联网的迅速扩展，马歇尔·麦克卢汉所描绘的“地球村”的到来，并将其开放且由用户驱动的架构与CompuServe等封闭商业服务进行了对比。本期节目审视了多项开创性技术，包括Aladdin Systems的SITcomm拨号工具、ARPA支持的NCSA Mosaic、NASA的低成本桌面分组视频，以及Bellcore面向图书馆的MOREnet基础设施。作家Brendan Kehoe演示了利用Gopher、Finger和匿名FTP进行的实际网络导航，而Carl Malamud与作家Howard Rheingold则探讨了按需“互联网谈话电台”以及The WELL等虚拟社区所带来的文化影响。节目最后，Rheingold呼吁保护在线公共公民空间，同时节目还汇总了本周最新的便携式软硬件动态。 NCSA的Mosaic浏览器正将互联网导航从深奥难懂的UNIX终端命令转变为直观的点击式超文本界面，不仅将普通用户转变为草根内容发布者，还引入了“网络冲浪”的概念。 (3:08) NASA科学互联网正在开发基于分组交换IP线路的分组视频远程会议技术，将跨站点连接的每小时成本从50至100美元降至约10美元，并计划在3至5年内将桌面系统推广至学校。 (6:31) “互联网谈话电台”作为首个数字音频广播服务上线，通过万维网分发异步声音文件，打破了传统的线性广播模式。 (16:42) The WELL等虚拟社区展示了计算机网络如何发挥社交集聚空间的作用，促使Howard Rheingold等作家呼吁抵制企业圈地行为，维护开放的公民“社会绿化带”。 (19:09)

Reading summary

In 1993, The Computer Chronicles examined how the Internet was transitioning from a specialized defense and academic network into an open, public infrastructure that empowered grassroots publishing, civic research, and virtual communities. Graphical Browsers and Connection Automation (0:00) Early network adoption was long hampered by arcane command-line scripts and terminal interfaces. Software developments highlighted in 1993 sought to remove these obstacles for ordinary consumers. David Schargel demonstrated Aladdin Systems' SITcomm telecommunications software, which automated dialup connections to gateways like NETCOM and handled post-session decompression for file formats such as StuffIt, ZIP, and UNIX archives. Simultaneously, government-backed research at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) helped yield NCSA Mosaic. Designed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Mosaic introduced a point-and-click hypertext graphical interface that eliminated command-line prompts, enabling grade school students and everyday users to net-surf and publish digital content independently. Decentralized Architecture Versus Proprietary Gardens (9:09) Brendan Kehoe, author of Zen and the Art of the Internet, contrasted the Internet's open topology against walled commercial platforms like CompuServe and Prodigy. Unlike services controlled by central corporate operators, the Internet permitted any connected participant to launch new servers and services without top-down gatekeepers. Live demonstrations showed utility protocols bridging diverse data: Gopher burrowed into remote employment databases to locate teaching vacancies and accessed articles through the Electronic Newsstand; anonymous FTP retrieved official NAFTA treaty texts directly from universities; and the Finger protocol served pop culture data such as Billboard music charts. However, technical frictions remained evident; e-commerce transactions were constrained by network lag and emerging security hurdles regarding financial and credit card transfers. High-Bandwidth Media and Public Terminals (6:31) Institutional researchers demonstrated that wide-area networks could support multimedia applications at a fraction of legacy broadcast costs. At the NASA Science Internet center, engineers pioneered packet video, transmitting desktop video streams at roughly 2 frames per second with projections to reach 10 to 12 frames per second within two years. Compared to traditional videoconferencing setups costing 10 to 20 times more—and dedicated teleconference links billing $50 to $100 per hour—routing audio and video over standard Internet connections lowered interconnect costs to approximately $10 per hour. Parallel infrastructure research at Bellcore sought to support broadband services across local telephone networks. In civic environments, Bellcore's MOREnet project connected Morris County public libraries directly to Internet resources like the CIA World Factbook and overseas catalogs, demonstrating how local public terminals could interface with global repositories. Virtual Communities and On-Demand Media (16:42) Beyond technical utility, online networks emerged as social environments and alternative broadcast channels. Carl Malamud's Internet Talk Radio distributed programs like Geek of the Week and National Press Club addresses over the World Wide Web, breaking linear broadcast conventions by allowing listeners to download, pause, and skip digital audio files asynchronously. In the studio, author Howard Rheingold illustrated how discussion systems like The WELL functioned as virtual communities where geographically dispersed participants gathered to deliberate policy, troubleshoot technical issues, and provide mutual personal support during family health crises. While participants celebrated the democratizing potential of computer networks, Howard Rheingold cautioned that civic spaces require deliberate protection as telecommunications companies and governments negotiate control over digital infrastructure. He also warned that screen-based communication introduces emotional detachment, noting that online relationships carry inherent trust limitations compared to face-to-face interaction.

精炼阅读摘要

1993年的《计算机编年史》（The Computer Chronicles）指出，互联网正从国防与学术研究专网演变为大众可及的全球性公共网络；凭借图形化界面、去中心化架构与新兴虚拟社区，它开始重塑信息获取、媒体传播与人际交互的形态。客户端革新降低接入与浏览门槛 (0:00) 早期接入互联网高度依赖繁琐的终端命令，而新型客户端工具显著降低了大众使用门槛。Aladdin Systems 推出的 SITcomm 软件内置地址簿与自动脚本功能，能自动完成对 NETCOM、The WELL 以及各类 BBS 的拨号与握手认证，并在下载完成后自动调用解压引擎处理 StuffIt、ZIP 及 UNIX 格式归档，直接呈现文档内容。由美国国家超级计算应用中心（NCSA）在 ARPA 资助下开发的 Mosaic 浏览器，则用直观的点选超文本界面取代了生硬的 UNIX 指令，使用户能够像浏览本地文件夹一样检索遍布全球的远程服务器资源，使中小学生等普通公众得以在网络空间中开展轻松浏览与基层信息发布。去中心化架构与丰富的信息检索生态 (9:09) 作家 Brendan Kehoe 指出，与 CompuServe、Prodigy 等实行中心化商业控制的封闭网络不同，互联网没有单一控制者，任何接入端均可自主设立服务与发布资源，具备高度的民主性。用户可通过多种开放工具高效获取公共与生活信息：使用 Gopher 检索密歇根在线求职中心的教师职位招聘，或在 Electronic Newsstand 阅读《新共和》（The New Republic）关于北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA）的社论；利用匿名 FTP（Anonymous FTP）直接从北卡罗来纳大学档案库中下载政府预算与条约原文；甚至通过被重新定义的 Finger 协议查看 Billboard 音乐榜单等文化资讯。尽管当时通过网络购买 CD 等电子商务尝试仍受制于支付安全与网络延迟，但每月10至20美元的平民化接入成本与 InterNIC 咨询服务已推动网络迅速普及。多媒体传输突破与公共通信基础设施 (6:31) 在数据传输与科研前沿，宽带网络和多媒体通信展现出巨大的替代潜力。NASA 科学互联网（NSI）研发的分组视频（packet video）技术直接基于 IP 线路传输视音频，将传统专属电视电话会议每小时50至100美元的连接成本压缩至约10美元，并计划在数年内提升帧率并向全美公立学校推广远程教育与科研白板协作。与此同时，作为区域贝尔运营公司研发机构的 Bellcore 致力于国家信息基础设施（NII）建设，通过新泽西州莫里斯县的 MOREnet 试点项目将公共图书馆终端接入全球网络，使普通市民能够在几秒内跨洋查阅海外图书目录与世界概况数据，印证了公共电信网络作为未来宽带骨干的可行性。虚拟社区与非同步数字出版的社会价值 (16:42) 网络不仅是信息流通渠道，更是构建新型社会关系的温床。Carl Malamud 创办的“互联网谈话电台”（Internet Talk Radio）突破了传统纸媒高昂的印刷邮寄成本与线性广播时间表的限制，通过万维网提供可暂停、可跳过的高技术访谈音频下载，开辟了非同步网络出版模式。在人文社群方面，《虚拟社区》作者 Howard Rheingold 展示了 The WELL 讨论区，指出在线论坛就像跨越地理阻隔的“数字绿化带”与社交咖啡馆：在育儿等主题讨论中，来自全球的用户能在几分钟内为白血病患儿家庭提供专业医疗指导与情感支持。然而 Rheingold 也警示，屏幕交流在连接人际的同时也可能拉大心理距离，用户在数字关系中仍需保持审慎，直至在线下建立真实了解。该期节目展现了互联网从冷战科研工具向大众信息高速公路转型的关键节点。尽管当时网络面临交易安全薄弱、带宽延迟不稳定以及商业与政府力量介入可能侵蚀公共空间的挑战，但开放标准与社群自组织力量已奠定了现代数字社会的基本雏形。

Source quotes

[22:15] Howard Rheingold: When these big deals with the big companies and the big governments carve up this new territory I feel it's very important that we keep a kind of social Green Belt that we keep the ability for citizens to talk amongst each other.

Original transcript

[0:00] Marshall mclen said that one day we [0:02] would all live in a global village an [0:04] electronic community interconnected by [0:07] Communications networks that would [0:09] shrink the Earth well the global village [0:11] has arrived and its main street is [0:14] called the internet where people from [0:16] around the world do meet electronically [0:18] to exchange ideas today we'll surf the [0:21] net we'll explore the internet on this [0:23] edition of the computer Chronicles [0:30] [Music] [0:41] computer Chronicles is brought to you in [0:43] part by Intel microprocessor technology [0:45] for the software of today and tomorrow [0:47] Intel the computer [0:49] inside additional funding is provided by [0:52] the software Publishers Association [0:54] providers of educational materials to [0:56] help manage software don't copy that [0:59] floppy [1:00] and by huet Packard personal computer [1:08] division welcome to the computer [1:10] Chronicles I'm steuart chaet and with me [1:12] today is David charel of Aladdin systems [1:14] David there's a little bit of interest [1:16] in the internet these days there's a new [1:17] book coming out every week just about on [1:19] how to use the internet you guys have [1:20] just come out with a new piece of [1:21] software called sitcom that makes it [1:23] easy to log on the internet and move [1:24] files up and back and so on show us how [1:26] sitcom works okay well I'm in my address [1:29] book right now and as you can see I just [1:31] typed in my name my phone number and my [1:33] uh ID and password and I'm just going to [1:36] save that address book entry and connect [1:38] it's that easy to try to connect to [1:40] we're logging on right now we're getting [1:41] right now on to NETCOM which is an [1:43] internet dialog okay one of the things I [1:45] did not show you in that uh particular [1:46] address book entry was a pop-up menu [1:48] that has a list of all the services that [1:50] sitcom knows how to get on to for [1:51] example the well or the world which are [1:54] other very popular internet dialup sites [1:56] it also knows how to get on to comp [1:57] serve Genie MCI mail Dow Jones a lot of [2:00] Commercial Services automatically as [2:02] well as local bulletin boards what I [2:04] mean by that is it knows when to type [2:05] where to type for example when the [2:07] system asks for password it knows when [2:08] to type the password when it says mess [2:10] for the name it knows when to type the [2:11] name okay so we are just about to log on [2:14] now I see and as you can see it's typing [2:16] password and we've just established a [2:18] connection here all right so what can we [2:19] do I'm going to ask it to send me a file [2:22] that I earlier got to my account on [2:24] NETCOM via FTP or file transfer protocol [2:27] and you can see it's now downloading [2:28] that file via modem once that file is [2:31] here it's done I'm going to disconnect [2:35] I'm offline now and it's automatically [2:37] going to expand that file because it was [2:38] in a stuffed format which is a popular [2:40] format on the Macintosh if I was dealing [2:42] with files from the PC I can expand zip [2:45] files Arc files or if I'm dealing with [2:47] Unix which is what the internet is based [2:49] on I can get at Unix compress files tar [2:52] files uu code files all right so what [2:55] I'm going to do now I'm still within [2:56] sitcom and I'm going to view the file [2:58] that I just got it's it's already [3:00] expanded and here it is the Clinton [3:02] inaugural address this is the full text [3:03] that I got to my machine and there it is [3:06] that was pretty easy to do all right [3:08] thank you today we'll spend some time on [3:10] the internet and we'll visit folks who [3:11] are doing all kinds of interesting [3:13] things on internet now internet started [3:15] as a defense department Network designed [3:17] specifically to hook up different [3:18] research centers around the country so [3:20] we'll begin with a brief history of the [3:22] Internet by visiting the place where it [3:23] all began arpa the advanced research [3:26] projects agency in Arlington Virginia [3:30] arpa was formed by President Eisenhower [3:32] after Sputnik its mission to guard the [3:34] us against technological surprise [3:37] pioneering work on networking [3:39] Technologies resulted in the birth of [3:41] the internet since the early days [3:43] internet has provided vital [3:45] communication links in the research [3:46] Community the internet is one of the [3:49] major projects from the late 70s early [3:52] 80s there's been a long tradition of [3:53] advanced te technology developments at [3:55] ARA starting from the early time sharing [3:57] projects through computer Graphics into [3:59] computer networks through personal [4:00] Computing and more recently to the new [4:02] world of scalable high performance [4:03] Computing the most recent internet [4:06] inspired development at arpa is the [4:08] Enterprise room that's Enterprise as in [4:10] Starship Enterprise arpa Captain Kirk is [4:14] Steven Squires director of high [4:16] performance Communications research oh [4:18] I'd like to welcome you to the bridge of [4:19] the HPC Enterprise behind me you see a [4:21] view screen which is a window into the [4:23] country's high performance Computing and [4:25] Communications program on the center [4:27] screen you can see a map representing [4:30] all the bit ways which are feeding the [4:32] Washington area to which this facility [4:33] is connected Enterprise is the visual [4:36] embodiment of all the Advanced [4:38] Technologies coming out of the [4:39] government's high performance Computing [4:41] and Communications program and arpa is [4:44] not keeping Enterprise to itself [4:46] researchers from around the country pop [4:48] in via internet connections or in person [4:50] is create a whole new spirit of [4:51] cooperation among the different agencies [4:53] in the federal government and throughout [4:55] the scientific Community people are able [4:56] to share ideas and develop new things [4:58] simply based upon their interest Mosaic [5:00] is one of those new developments it's a [5:03] hypertext interface that lets you browse [5:05] any information service provided by the [5:07] internet Mosaic was developed by the [5:10] national Center for supercomputing [5:11] applications with harpus support the [5:14] thing that makes Mosaic special is that [5:16] it gives everyone access without there [5:19] having to be uh a rocket scientist they [5:22] don't have to be trained and esoteric uh [5:25] Computing uh grade school kids can use [5:27] it in fact we're installing it in in [5:29] school [5:30] because it's a pointand click interface [5:32] uh and that pointand click instead of [5:34] going through information that's on your [5:36] personal computer it's as if there's a [5:38] million computers on the internet inside [5:41] your own personal computer these top [5:43] level researchers hope Mosaic lures more [5:46] average computer users to the internet [5:48] especially young people all over the [5:50] world people local people Ordinary [5:52] People are becoming electronic [5:54] Publishers they're putting up the things [5:55] that mean something to them and they [5:57] want to share it with the rest of the [5:58] world and what Mosaic does is it [6:00] provides a window into this incredible [6:03] cyberspace this information space that's [6:05] developing and it allows you to Simply [6:08] what we call Net surf looking for cool [6:11] stuff that's what the kids say they're [6:13] doing that's what that's the whole [6:14] mentality of this for the computer [6:16] Chronicles I'm jonell Patterson [6:24] [Music] [6:31] as we mentioned earlier there are lots [6:33] of books out now on the internet and one [6:35] of the best is by Brendan kho who's our [6:37] guest now this is Brendan's book Zen and [6:39] the Art of the internet a beginner's [6:41] guide and there's a new edition just [6:42] coming out in January I guess Brendan I [6:44] want to ask you to log on to the [6:45] internet and while you're doing that [6:47] we're going to run over to NASA at [6:48] Moffet field in California to see how [6:50] they are using the [6:52] internet this is the operations center [6:54] for the NASA science internet the [6:56] network that lets NASA Mission [6:58] scientists around the world share [7:00] information NASA provides information [7:02] for public internet access but the NSI [7:04] is strictly an Insider Network the [7:07] public cannot get an account on the NASA [7:10] science internet you have to be funded [7:13] somehow by NASA however anyone with [7:15] access to the internet can access the [7:18] public information that NASA NASA makes [7:20] available the latest Innovation on the [7:22] NASA science internet is Packet video [7:25] NASA has devised a way to compress the [7:27] video and audio segments of conferencing [7:29] for Carriage on the internet all right [7:31] that makes that's makes great sense I [7:34] understand it now thanks a lot David [7:36] you're welcome packet video will cost a [7:38] lot less than traditional video [7:40] conferencing video conferencing [7:42] facilities typically cost 10 to 20 times [7:45] as much as the desktop video [7:47] conferencing technology we're developing [7:48] here at Nasa also the interconnectivity [7:51] between sites often cost $50 to $100 an [7:54] hour whereas using the internet we can [7:56] transfer the material at approximately [7:58] $10 an hour hour in wide area [8:00] conferences saving a tremendous amount [8:02] NASA is developing video Hardware to [8:04] reduce the signal load on the internet [8:06] and a whiteboard for document sharing [8:09] all of this technology may show up soon [8:10] in schools Nationwide in 3 to 5 years we [8:14] expect to be able to put this technology [8:15] into every school system in the country [8:18] and share it for use in distance [8:19] learning and it can also be used for uh [8:22] sharing uh valuable resources Like A [8:24] Gifted instructor or a researcher in a [8:27] wide area setting packet video currently [8:29] transmits at 2 frames per second across [8:31] the internet stations running at 10 to [8:33] 12 frames per second will be deployed [8:35] within 2 years we'll have uh remote [8:38] exploration Vehicles sending back packet [8:40] video information uh anarctica missions [8:43] missions having to do with uh using [8:45] visualization technology and virtual [8:47] reality technology using packet video to [8:50] distribute these not only to researchers [8:52] but to educational institutions for the [8:54] computer Chronicles I'm Janelle Stillson [8:56] [Music] [9:09] and we're back here with Brendan kho and [9:11] you've logged on to internet Brendan [9:12] before we take a look what's the big [9:14] deal about internet why is everybody [9:15] making such a fuss about it why is it [9:17] better than comp you server Prodigy Etc [9:19] well the chief benefit is that it's not [9:21] owned by one company or even a Cong [9:23] glomera of companies like prodigy or [9:24] comput serve you're influenced by what [9:26] those companies thought your users would [9:28] want to do where on the internet anyone [9:30] can put any service on and have it do [9:31] anything they want with it at any it's [9:33] kind of user controlled right it's it's [9:35] completely molded by the people who use [9:37] it all right let's take a look and show [9:38] me some of the neat things you can do on [9:39] the internet okay the first thing we'll [9:41] be doing is looking for a job a friend [9:42] of for a friend of mine who just got her [9:44] teacher certificate and she's in the [9:46] Northeast so we'll be using a tool [9:47] called gopher which lets you burrow [9:50] around the internet and pop up where the [9:52] information you need happens to be and [9:54] we're going into the Online Career [9:55] Center and this will let you search the [9:58] job listings at all so let you search [10:00] resumes if you're looking for people to [10:01] work for you and here we'll search for [10:03] the word teacher it'll go and perform [10:06] the search so you're looking for a [10:07] teacher's job in the Northeast right [10:09] okay and this is running on a machine in [10:11] Michigan and here we've got a small list [10:15] of of positions and let's say she wants [10:16] to be a substitute teacher at the Bay [10:18] View Health Care Center we'll get the [10:20] list of contact information the phone [10:23] number the requirements salary that kind [10:25] of thing that's pretty neat in itself [10:27] what else and the next thing we'll be [10:29] looking at is one of the more silly [10:31] parts of the Internet it's called it [10:33] finger which usually will let you go and [10:36] check if people are logged into certain [10:37] systems but some people have set up the [10:39] information that gets output by finger [10:41] to be whatever they want like NFL scores [10:43] or the B Billboard charts or that kind [10:45] of thing so here we're looking at the [10:47] Billboard charts for this week and okay [10:50] top R&B singles Etc ET and we'll see [10:53] number five is Mariah KY okay so one [10:55] thing we can do over the net is order [10:57] that CD with our can't actually buy [11:00] stuff on internet right it's it's a very [11:02] sticky situation because one of the [11:04] biggest problems is security and [11:05] transfer of money and that kind of thing [11:07] but many systems have actually set it up [11:09] so that you can do things on the [11:11] internet involving money transfering [11:13] credit cards and that sort of thing all [11:14] right what else so here it's going we're [11:17] going into the compact disc connection [11:20] and as soon as it wakes up one of the [11:22] one of the drawbacks of using the [11:23] internet is that since it's so [11:24] autonomous every system it can be up or [11:27] down or be as slow as fast as so [11:29] nobody's really controlling traffic in [11:30] the middle and the only guarantee is [11:32] that your packets will get there it's [11:34] just a matter of when they okay well can [11:36] we skip past this right now let this is [11:37] taking a little long so what we'll do is [11:40] we'll skip Buy in the CD at the moment [11:41] we'll get out of there and [11:44] now now we'll go in and we'll use a [11:48] thing again using goer to look up an [11:50] article in the new Republic [11:52] magazine and we'll fix a typo and there [11:55] we go and it we'll go into the [11:57] electronic news stand mhm MH and all of [12:00] the articles in the current edition of [12:02] many magazines are available through [12:03] this like the new Republic uh internet [12:06] World in fact is actually one Foreign [12:08] Affairs magazine so now we'll go into [12:10] the new Republic and we'll go into the [12:11] current issue and see what their [12:14] editorial is about it just happens to be [12:16] about NAFTA so we have to do a Sit [12:17] return on there and there's the full [12:19] text article full text for it and what [12:21] we can also do now now that we've read [12:23] that editorial is we can go over to [12:25] another system in this case in [12:27] University of Northern C North Carolina [12:29] MH and we'll use anonymous ft ke and by [12:33] typing Anonymous at the P the name [12:36] prompt and then use our email address as [12:38] a password you don't need a real [12:39] password for this this will let anyone [12:41] put files available on the internet and [12:44] so in this case we're going to go into a [12:46] public a political science area and if [12:51] we do a directory we'll see it has a [12:53] whole bunch of stuff the US budget wow [12:56] and now now we'll go into NAFTA [12:59] and we can see that we can get actually [13:01] get the full text of [13:04] NAFTA including separated by the [13:06] chapters and by the appendixes couple of [13:08] quick questions uh if I want to get onto [13:10] internet how do I do it how do I get [13:12] into internet uh the best solution since [13:14] it it's very dependent upon where you [13:15] live is to call something called the [13:17] internic helpline and you call 1 800 444 [13:21] 4345 and then they'll help you find out [13:23] who you what's the best way to get in in [13:25] your local area what on average is it [13:26] going to cost to use internet between $1 [13:28] and $20 a month for normal user Bron [13:31] thank you very much all right to get the [13:32] most out of something like internet we [13:34] really need that information super [13:36] highway to give us all a common Digital [13:38] Data path that's the goal of the [13:39] developers at the Bell Communications [13:41] research labs in New Jersey bellore [13:44] provides research support and [13:46] communication services to the seven [13:48] Regional Bell operating companies [13:50] projects there involve expansion of [13:52] digital transmission Pathways such as [13:54] the development of video on demand [13:56] service transmitted over existing phone [13:58] lines and Innovations in video [14:00] conferencing such as this desktop dropin [14:03] system called Cruiser hi how you doing [14:07] okay research director Steve Weinstein [14:10] says the internet plays a significant [14:12] role in Bel cor's work both as a [14:14] research tool and as a subject for [14:17] high-speed technology development we [14:19] believe that the public network uh the [14:21] owners of Bor can be providers as [14:24] significant providers of th those kinds [14:26] of facilities that the future broadband [14:28] internet is going to need how people [14:30] react to electronic forms of information [14:33] is another subject of Bor research [14:35] that's why Bor decided to provide the [14:37] Morris County library system with a host [14:40] connection to the internet we've [14:41] extended an existing inter Library [14:43] Network that they had in Morris County [14:45] New Jersey the existing Network had a [14:48] Consolidated catalog for the entire [14:50] County so all the libraries had [14:52] terminals uh Public Access Terminals and [14:55] also some other terminals that only the [14:56] Librarians Ed and had access to a [14:58] consolidated catalog and circulation [15:00] database and what moate is is an [15:03] extension of this to connect this whole [15:04] network to the outside world and make a [15:06] lot more resources available so far the [15:09] response has been enthusiastic they [15:11] realize how much it offers that it's [15:13] almost uh a there's a a world out there [15:16] and they're thrilled with the fact that [15:18] they can jump from Maine to Australia [15:21] back to San Francisco on the internet [15:24] and they love it one of the items on the [15:26] Moret menu is a bore creation called [15:29] Superbook it's a hypertext interface [15:31] that lets internet Network providers [15:33] offer large searchable databases what [15:36] Superbook will do is allow them to [15:37] maintain their uh document database in a [15:40] central location on the internet and [15:42] then put out their documentation uh [15:44] whether it's a journal or some other set [15:46] of materials uh to a whole variety of [15:48] enduser workstations ranging from an [15:50] asky terminal all all the way up to a [15:52] very fancy uh workstation Monet's [15:55] internet connection also provides access [15:57] for Library patrons to University [15:59] databases weather information and the [16:02] CIA World Factbook we're interested in [16:05] making a more effective public [16:06] Communications Network and by public we [16:09] mean something open to to everyone and [16:11] this is this is part of it trying to [16:12] make access broader uh easier and more [16:15] effective for a very wide public and uh [16:17] we hope that the the knowledge we get [16:19] here will help not only our owners to be [16:21] more effective providers but will [16:23] advance the whole National information [16:25] infrastructure for the computer [16:27] Chronicles I'm Janel patter [16:29] [Music] [16:42] the internet is more than a technology [16:44] it's a sociological phenomenon which is [16:46] redefining the word Community here to [16:48] show us that aspect of Internet is [16:50] Howard reinold Howard's the author of [16:52] this book called the virtual community [16:54] and I want to ask you to sign on for us [16:55] and while we're waiting for you to log [16:57] on Howard we're going to run over to [16:58] Washington DC to see one of the most [17:01] Innovative applications on the Internet [17:03] it's the world's first computer [17:04] delivered radio [17:06] station you've been listening to geek of [17:09] the week on internet talk radio Carl [17:11] malamud is internet talk radio he [17:14] produces audio data files at this studio [17:16] in the national press club building then [17:17] uploads them onto the internet via the [17:19] worldwide web by sending mail to info@ [17:22] radio.com you can access his interview [17:25] program geek of the week and recordings [17:27] of the national Press Club lunch series [17:30] I'd like to welcome club members and [17:31] their guests in the audience today as [17:33] well as those of you watching on C-Span [17:36] or accessing it on the global internet [17:39] computer network it's one of those ideas [17:42] that started as a hobby and kind of went [17:44] nuts um I wrote books about computers I [17:46] wrote seven books and I wrote magazine [17:48] articles and I was looking for a [17:50] magazine about the internet and there [17:52] wasn't one and I wanted to start one but [17:55] that's expensive because you have to [17:56] print paper and you have to mail paper [17:58] and you have to audit who gets the paper [18:00] so you can get it back to your [18:02] advertisers and I decided Gee let's do [18:04] something on the network unlike a normal [18:06] broadcast station which transmits [18:08] programming on a regular schedule [18:09] malamud's cyber station is a synchronous [18:12] radio our radio is a kind of radio [18:14] station which you pull up when you want [18:17] you come in in the morning a phone call [18:18] comes in you put the radio on hold you [18:20] decide you're tired you put it on hold [18:22] again you cut out the part you don't [18:24] like you just chop it out you don't like [18:26] my restaurant reviews I love doing [18:27] restaurant reviewss but you like them [18:29] you just want to hear the technical meat [18:31] you cut them out this nonlinear digital [18:33] approach to journalism raises both [18:35] ethical and procedural questions that [18:37] malamud looks forward to discussing on [18:39] the internet we need to start seeing the [18:41] Nina totenberg of the world showing up [18:43] on the internet and we also want the [18:45] individuals of the world being able to [18:46] publish themselves for the computer [18:48] Chronicles I'm Janelle [18:51] stelson and we're back with Howard [18:53] reinold and Howard let's get back to the [18:55] virtual community notion and you're [18:56] logged on to something called the well [18:58] how does that relate to the internet [18:59] well if you think of the internet as a [19:01] digital Super Highway then all that [19:03] information you can get that's like [19:05] libraries and all of that software you [19:07] can get those are like warehouses the [19:09] well is like a community where people [19:11] live it's not just information or [19:13] products that you're looking for it's [19:15] connecting with other people and there [19:17] are many communities accessible through [19:19] the internet all right show us on the [19:20] well the kinds of communities you're [19:22] talking about well communities are [19:24] really built from people talking with [19:26] each other and this is about using [19:28] computers to structure Communications [19:30] between humans so here's a list of all [19:33] of the general topics that people [19:35] discuss in topic areas so you have [19:38] social responsibility and politics and [19:40] that includes everything from [19:42] environment to Firearms there are [19:44] hundreds of discussions in each one of [19:46] those conference areas media and [19:48] Communications you can see there are [19:50] dozens of different topics there [19:52] business and livelihood this screen will [19:55] go on for minutes and each of these [19:57] conferences is really the record ing if [19:59] you will of all the discussions that [20:00] have taken place between all the members [20:02] of this community right that's right [20:03] it's as if you walked into a cocktail [20:05] party and you reeled back a conversation [20:07] to the beginning so you could see what [20:09] people were talking about how do you use [20:10] this give me an example of one of the [20:12] conferences you would be involved in [20:13] okay well one that has a lot of heart [20:15] and a lot of use to me is the parenting [20:17] conference we're not talking about [20:18] computers we're talking about our [20:19] children there so if you go to the [20:21] parenting conference you will find that [20:24] there are a lot of topics within that [20:25] parenting conference where people talk [20:27] about where do you get up martial arts [20:29] teacher for kids or what do you do about [20:32] three-year-old jealousy or a a child of [20:35] cyberspace or putting baby pictures up [20:38] online so you can talk to people who [20:39] have similar problems that you might not [20:41] otherwise be able to meet or or get to [20:43] have this conversation with right yes in [20:44] fact you can have a kind of ready-made [20:46] Community when you need one one real [20:49] example of that was when one of the [20:51] members of the community discovered that [20:53] his son was diagnosed with leukemia so [20:56] he opened a topic on the well gave a [20:58] little introduction to that topic in [21:00] which he discussed what was happening to [21:02] him and his family and really within [21:04] minutes other people began flocking to [21:07] his help and it was not just emotional [21:09] support there were a couple of doctors a [21:11] couple of nurses and a couple of [21:13] recovered leukemia patients so that's [21:15] kind of Priceless help you can get from [21:17] people you may have never met before but [21:19] the well or other communities put you in [21:22] touch with them and and you're on the [21:24] well but you might also be able to talk [21:26] to people in another part of the country [21:27] another part of the world for that [21:29] matter that might they might be dealing [21:30] with similar problems well absolutely [21:32] you can get onto an on-ramp of the [21:33] internet in Tokyo and a second later you [21:36] are in the parenting Conference of the [21:37] well so that's what I mean by a virtual [21:40] community is the the time and space [21:43] constraints of our normal communities [21:45] are not there it's what we're interested [21:47] in and what we talk with each other [21:49] about that really defines our community [21:51] here all right what else could we do on [21:52] the well what other kind of discussion [21:53] or Community could we get into Howard [21:56] well you can go and talk about uh [21:58] computers I'm using a Macintosh here you [22:00] can go to the Macintosh conference this [22:02] is if you've got a problem and your best [22:05] friend who knows about computers as [22:06] number is busy you can log on to the [22:08] well and there are experts who are [22:10] fighting with each other to give you the [22:12] kind of information you need to solve [22:13] your problem Howard what's the social [22:16] significance of this is this really a a [22:18] major change in the way human beings May [22:20] interact with each other you're [22:21] suggesting that and say the leukemia [22:23] case for example well I believe that it [22:24] is you have to remember that in [22:27] Democratic Society citizens talking with [22:29] each other is very important we've lost [22:32] a lot of that with the mass media now we [22:35] have an opportunity for citizens to [22:36] create their own Communications with [22:38] each other so when these big deals with [22:40] the big companies and the big [22:42] governments carve up this new territory [22:45] I feel it's very important that we keep [22:47] keep a kind of social Green Belt that we [22:49] keep the ability for citizens to Talk [22:51] Amongst each other briefly Howard is [22:52] there a downside I mean there's [22:54] something limited about meeting people [22:56] electronically we're here face to face I [22:57] going to get the of who you are and so [22:59] and so forth is there something missing [23:01] some negative to this online community I [23:03] think it's important to remember that [23:05] just as the computer can connect us with [23:07] people it can also distance us from [23:09] people and you need to know that just as [23:12] you can't trust everyone you talk to on [23:14] the telephone you can't trust everyone [23:16] you meet in a virtual community until [23:18] you meet them and get to know them [23:20] offline Howard thank you very much that [23:22] is our look at internet stay tuned now [23:24] for this week's computer news on random [23:26] access [23:33] [Music] [23:41] in the random access file this week [23:43] there are some new entries in a [23:44] subnotebook category Canon introduced [23:47] the Inova book 10 10c family of [23:49] monochrome and color portable computers [23:52] the Canon 486 SL subnotebooks weigh 4 [23:55] lbs and come bundled with Ms do 6.2 and [23:58] Windows 3.1 one model comes with an [24:01] internal bubble jet printer that's the [24:03] smallest Canon printer ever made Prices [24:06] range from, 16600 to just over [24:09] $2,000 Panasonic rolled out its new DX [24:12] 475 MHz notebook which comes with a [24:15] multimedia pocket the pocket holds a [24:17] floppy disc drive which pops out to [24:19] accept optional peripherals including an [24:22] internal cdrom drive an extra battery [24:24] pack or a TV tuner Prices range from 54 [24:28] to [24:29] $900 and sanch has released version two [24:32] of act for Windows the popular contact [24:35] management software which helps you keep [24:36] track of your business relationships act [24:39] 2.0 now includes Network support [24:42] integrated email and enhanced calendar [24:44] printing functions there's also a new [24:46] version of act available for HP Palm [24:48] tops alacrity systems has a new hardware [24:52] software bundle on the market called [24:54] office in a box that turns your PC and [24:56] printer into a digital copier a plain [24:59] paper fax machine and an electronic [25:01] filing cabinet the $500 office in a box [25:04] bundle includes a scanner fax modem and [25:06] elac equip software and finally in honor [25:10] of the 25th anniversary of man's landing [25:12] on the moon Alpha books has released a [25:15] new title called computers in space [25:17] Journeys with NASA the book contains [25:19] rare photographs and extensive [25:21] information on the role that computers [25:23] played in putting people in space and [25:25] information on the possibilities of [25:27] computer technology in future NASA [25:30] Explorations that's it for this week's [25:32] computer Chronicles I'm Janelle [25:34] stelson computer Chronicles is brought [25:37] to you in part by Intel microprocessor [25:40] technology for the software of today and [25:42] tomorrow Intel the computer [25:44] inside additional funding is provided by [25:47] the software Publishers Association [25:49] providers of educational materials to [25:51] help manage software don't copy that [25:54] floppy and by hulet Packard personal [25:57] computer division [26:01] video cassette copies of this program [26:02] are available computer Chronicles also [26:05] publishes a companion newsletter [26:07] containing details on products [26:08] demonstrated and information on program [26:10] topics to order a video cassette or a [26:13] newsletter call 1 [26:15] 1800799 4949 or write computer [26:18] Chronicles please specify program [26:20] subject for tapes all orders include a [26:23] free software program for auditing [26:24] software use and information on the [26:27] definitive guide to keep your [26:28] organization software legal [26:33] [Music]