DATELINE, USA! 1969!
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS BEGUN EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY, COINED ARPANET, THAT WILL ALLOW ITS SUPERCOMPUTERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER! ON OCTOBER 29 THE FIRST COMPUTER TO COMPUTER TRANSMISSION WAS ACHIEVED AT UCLA: "LOG ON"! It crashed after the G. THREE WHOLE LETTERS ARE POSSIBLE; COULD MORE BE ON THE WAY?
THIS EXPERIMENT COULD SOMEDAY REVOLUTIONIZE AND TRANSFORM HUMAN LIFESTYLES! AS COMPUTING MACHINES BECOME FASTER AND MORE COMPLEX, WHAT WILL THEY MEAN FOR THE LIFE OF THE AVERAGE FUTURE AMERICAN CITIZEN? WE CAN ONLY WONDER AND SPECULATE!
CLICK ON THE BORDERED PICTURES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION!
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DATELINE, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! 1981!
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE IS NOW OFFERING THE LATEST CUTTING-EDGE SERVICE TO ITS READERS...THE TELEPAPER!
IMAGINE BREWING A POT OF YOUR MORNING COFFEE AND SITTING DOWN IN FRONT OF YOUR TRS-80 TO READ THE NEWSPAPER! IT'S NO LONGER SCIENCE FICTION, IT'S SCIENCE FACTION, AND ALL YOU NEED IS A TELEPHONE AND A DEVICE CALLED A MODEM THAT TRANSLATES PHONE SIGNALS INTO ELECTRONIC PULSES! SIMPLY STICK THE RECEIVER END OF YOUR DOG-BONE-HANDLED PHONE INTO THE MODEM AND LOG ONTO COMPUSERVE, A SPECIALIZED MODEM SERVICE! INSTANTLY, WORDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WILL COME CRAWLING ONTO YOUR SCREEN!
THE CHRONICLE IS ONE OF EIGHT PAPERS NATIONWIDE THAT ALLOW TELEPAPER ACCESS! YOU CAN EVEN DOWNLOAD THE PAPERS FROM OTHER STATES IF YOU CHOOSE! BUT AT TWO HOURS OF DOWNLOAD TIME PER MORNING EDITION, CHRONICLE EDITOR DAVID COLE DOES NOT EXPECT COMPUTERS TO BE CUTTING INTO THE TRADITIONAL NEWSPAPER BUSINESS PROFITS ANYTIME SOON! UNTIL THEN, COLE EXPECTS TO SOLVE THE YET-UNCRACKED NUT OF HOW TO MAKE COMPUTER NEWS AS PROFITABLE AS PRINT!
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DATELINE: 1985!
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES ARE THE LATEST CRAZE! SOON, NO MORE WILL ANYONE HAVE TO TYPE COMMANDS INTO A COLD BLACK SCREEN TO ACCESS THEIR FILES, BUT GET TO THEM VIA THE TOUCH OF A SMOOTH RODENT-LIKE DEVICE! WHO'S AT THE FRONT OF THIS TREND? STEVE JOBS AND HIS MIRACLE BOX KNOWN AS THE MACINTOSH! BUT IF YOU OWN A DIFFERENT SYSTEM, DON'T WEEP! SMALLTOWN GEEKS BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN HAVE PULLED THEIR RESOURCES TOGETHER TO CREATE A BRAND-NEW GUI OPERATING SYSTEM FOR MS-DOS! AND ITS FEATURES ARE NOTHING SHORT OF MINDBLOWING!
WILL PEOPLE PREFER THEIR OPERATING SYSTEMS STATIC IN THE BOX, WITH MAC, OR SOLD SEPARATELY AND CHANGEABLE, WITH WINDOWS? TIME WILL TELL! EXCEPT IN NEBRASKA!
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DATELINE: 1993!
THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY IS ABOUT TO TAKE A GIANT LEAP WITH A GROWING PHENOMENON THAT SHALL BE KNOWN NOW AND FOREVER AS "THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY"! IMAGINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS, STOCK INFORMATION, EVEN ENTIRE MOVIES, AT YOUR INSTANT ACCESS! CARRYING CASUAL CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLES FROM AROUND THE WORLD AT NO EXTRA COST! 500 CABLE CHANNELS, WITH SUCH A DIVERSE LINEUP THERE IS A CHANNEL FOR EVERY INTEREST AND NICHE! IT'S ALL ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE, AND NOT WITHIN YEARS OR EVEN MONTHS...THE FUTURE IS TAKING SHAPE AS YOU READ THIS!
COMPUTERS HAVE ADVANCED TO THE POINT WHERE MOST HOUSEHOLDS CAN SUPPORT AT LEAST A 28.8 MODEM, AND THE ONLY THING PREVENTING SERVICES LIKE COMPUSERVE OR PRODIGY FROM MASS USAGE IS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. AS THIS CHANGES AND MORE DISCOVER THE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO THEM, WE'LL SOON GET ALL OUR NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT FROM A GLOBAL NETWORK! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS! PREPARE FOR THE DAWN OF A WHOLE NEW AGE!!
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DATELINE: 2010!
.....so.....yeah.
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