Take the weather as an example. Instead of broadcasting the weatherman and his proverbial maps and chart, think of sending a computer model of the weather. These bits arrive in your computer-TV and then you, at the receiving end, implicitly or explicitly use local computing intelligence to transform them into a voice report, a printed map, or an animated cartoon with your favorite Disney character. The smart TV set will do this in whatever way you want, maybe even depending on your disposition and mood at the moment. In this example, the broadcaster does not even know what the bits will turn into: video, audio, or print. You decide that. The bits leave the station as bits to be used and transformed in a variety of different ways, personalized by a variety of different computer programs, and archived or not as you see fit.
Predictor: Negroponte, Nicholas
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “Being Digital,” Nicholas Negroponte writes:”What will happen to broadcast television over the next five years is so phenomenal that it’s difficult to comprehend … Flexibility is crucial, and the public will be served best by those who are quickest to respond and most imaginative in the use of their bits. In the near future, broadcasters will assign bits to a particular medium (like TV or radio) at the point of transmission. This is usually what people mean when they talk about digital convergence or bit radiation. The transmitter tells the receiver, here come TV bits, here comes radio, or here come bits that represent the Wall Street Journal. In the more distant future the bits will not be confined to any specific medium when they leave the transmitter. Take the weather as an example. Instead of broadcasting the weatherman and his proverbial maps and chart, think of sending a computer model of the weather. These bits arrive in your computer-TV and then you, at the receiving end, implicitly or explicitly use local computing intelligence to transform them into a voice report, a printed map, or an animated cartoon with your favorite Disney character. The smart TV set will do this in whatever way you want, maybe even depending on your disposition and mood at the moment. In this example, the broadcaster does not even know what the bits will turn into: video, audio, or print. You decide that. The bits leave the station as bits to be used and transformed in a variety of different ways, personalized by a variety of different computer programs, and archived or not as you see fit.”
Biography:Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab and a popular speaker and writer about technologies of the future, wrote one of the 1990s’ best-selling books about the new future of communications, “Being Digital.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: February 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Being Digital (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 4: The Bit Police
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Pages 54, 55
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne