Date: Mon, 06 Feb 1995 14:25:05 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: "Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway" BKSTINSH.RVW 941226 "Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway", Goldsborough, 1994, 1- 56761-513-9, U$19.99/C$26.99 %A Reid Goldborough %C 8219 Northwest Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46278 %D 1994 %G 1-56761-513-9 %I Alpha Books/MacMillan Publishing, USA %O U$19.99/C$26.99 800-858-7674 %P 340 %T "Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway" Yes, by all means, let us have some straight talk about the information superhighway. The author waffles around with terms like "vehicle for the delivery ... of ... multimedia," but the reality is that the phrase was and is a speech-writer's icon. The slogan is very environmentally friendly: it has been reused in ever-broader situations, recycled in more promotions and speeches, and, in the process, reduced almost to meaninglessness. Goldsborough, in common with many who have only a tenuous grasp on the concepts, attempts to marry the widespread, anarchic, and still experimental Internet with the tightly-controlled "providers" of electronic media. (He also attempts to expand the collection of information supercliches with "infopike". Since he uses this to draw an analogy to the toll-road turnpikes of the northeastern United States, it is easy to see where his sympathies lie.) The book is a collection of enthusiastic essays about life in the telecom- rich future, with a piece concluding each chapter by some politician, "industry leader", Famous Person, or other "expert". Sometimes, it's hard to determine whether the "viewpoint" is an addendum to the chapter, the chapter is an introduction to the viewpoint, or whether both are related solely by proximity. The author must be sensitive, in advance, to possible charges that this material is all very "blue sky". After the opening story, he argues that this is not a fantasy, but that future technology will be very much like it. Of course, the technologies presented -- email, multimedia extensions, teleconferencing, voice recognition and macros -- are all available *now*, but it is obvious that Goldsborough is not really experienced in the most effective ways to use them. This is an extended series of the usual mass-media magazine articles, high on "gee whiz!" and low on content. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKSTINSH.RVW 941226. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6