dsi1 <ds...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in news:jdvqok$30n$1
@
dont-email.me:
> We could have never dreamed up this connected,
> high speed, digital world 20 years ago, although some did.
Thirty or so years ago I organized a conference between my
employer, a lobby group run for the benefit of academic
publications, our member associations and the government funding
body that subsidized their publications.
One of the subjects of discussion was future publishing media (as
opposed to dead tree issue) and how they could be more cost-
effective. One of the participants had already demonstrated that
he could plug in his 300 baud telephone modem down at the hotel
office and check his e-mail on his university server. He could
probably do it in his room too.
The idea that we should move to electronic files in order to save
publishing costs was brought up, one which I wholeheartedly
supported, but the idea was shelved as too extreme. It seems
that one of the most important aspects of getting one's
association journal was not the content as much as the "fondle
factor".
Of course, we have all seen Yeoman Rand bring Captain Kirk a
tablet upon which was inscribed the duty roster, and we saw him
appose his signature. Then later (mostly in DS9) people read
things off thin electronic tablets. This Christmas I bought a
tablet for myself. I have long had a "communicator", one that
flipped open when Kirk spoke to the Enterprise in orbit.
We are living in a Star Trek world. I wonder how we will build
starships when the time comes...