Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mailrus!ncar!jsloan@handies.ucar.edu
From: jsloan@handies.ucar.edu (John Sloan,8292,X1243,ML44E)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Looking Backwards
Message-ID: <5908@ncar.ucar.edu>
Date: 5 Jan 90 19:36:13 GMT
References: <72168@looking.on.ca>
Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu
Lines: 19

From article <72168@looking.on.ca>, by brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton):
> I am not sure that text mail will stay as it is forever.

Another forecast: electronic information (video, text, sound,
multimedia, etc.) will be sent in executable form, similar to
PostScript. We'll transmit programs, that when interpreted, will
produce the information on the other end. Like PS raster output, the
programs may be little more than an executable word or two followed by
scads of data, but for many applications, the likely data compression
and device independance advantage of sending an executable program
(which is interpreted locally by receipient-specific systems) will be a
a big win. In this case, the same message may produce voice for the
blind, text for the deaf, or video for the rest, all depending upon
what hardware is available at the destination, and how its configured.

John Sloan            NCAR/SCD             NSFnet: jsloan@ncar.ucar.edu
P.O. Box 27588        P.O. Box 3000        +1 303 497 1243   AMA#515306
Lakewood CO 80227     Boulder CO 80307     +1 303 232 8678   DoD#000011
Logical Disclaimer: belong(opinions,jsloan).belong(opinions,_):-!,fail.