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Wasn't the future wonderful?

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Abstract

This address commences with a survey of some of the goofs the press has made in covering science, continuing with a discussion of how the press, the public, and the establishment apparently refuse to accept inventions that have been around for years, even decades. The following intriguing topics are also covered·. Why the computer revolution has yet to occur. More important, how communication technologies, such as optical fibers that pack more and more information into smaller and smaller space, will affect the everyday lives of everyone on the planet and on to the promise of telecommuting, networking, and telepresence (transmitting your physical actions at a distance, for example, operating machinery from thousands of miles away). Why this will make for a truly egalitarian society by taking advantage of people’s talents in faraway locations. What the educated person of 2001 will be like (surprise, he or she may need a liberal rather than a technical education). Why we need not fear robots and, finally, how to stop worrying about the coming apocalypse.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

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