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THE INFORMATION AGE
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Jeong H. Kim, Ph.D.
Communications Revolution
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In order to go from where we are today, where we need to go - to the future networks, there has to be some sort of technological migration path. Most companies basically want to leapfrog, and I thought that was the wrong thing. That was a historian's view. "Revolution" itself is a historian's view, because it's going to take that much longer. From a businessman's perspective, we need a communication "evolution." So, somebody needs to show the migration path.
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[ Interview ] Jeong Kim |
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You cannot build a business thinking about somebody's going to buy it. You have to think in terms of creating value. Again, like I said, you've got to take one step at a time, especially if you are a small company. You know, you can think too far long-term and you can starve to death. So, you have to think about one step at a time and creating the value. And, if the value gets created that is worthwhile for somebody else, they will make an offer and therefore your options are open.
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[ Interview ] Jeong Kim |
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James V. Kimsey
Founder of AOL
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During these last 15 years there were many, many times that people would look at me and say, you know, "Why are you fooling around with this thing? Why do you think this is ever going to amount to anything?" In the early days, when I was forming the company, Prodigy had already been started by IBM and Sears. And, they would look at me and say, "My God, how are you ever going to compete with IBM and Sears?" And more recently they've said, "How are you going to compete with Microsoft?" A big company that has a sort of monolithic hegemony in this area that will stop you.
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[ Interview ] James V. Kimsey |
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We put a lot of resources into the Newton thinking that people would carry a hand-held device around. We clearly were premature in that regard, the Newton came and went. We learned a lot. Although some would say we wasted those resources, I think we learned a lot. I think the hand-held device will be with us. I think we need to understand how people are going to use it, how we can provide the service that we provide through hand-held devices. I think at some point you'll walk into a room, there will be a flat screen on the wall and you will say, "Turn on," and it will recognize your voice and turn on. Say "Show me my bank account," it'll do that. It will show you your mail; it will show you your stockbroker's account.
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[ Interview ] James V. Kimsey |
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There's only four things you can do with your money: you can give it to the government, you can spend it, you can give it to your ungrateful kids to their detriment. And my sons -- I have three -- all understand this. I never want to deprive them of the wonderful feeling of making it on their own. I don't think you do your kids a favor by leaving them a lot of money, or letting them think they're working with a net. And so, the fourth and final thing you can do with your money is give it to charity, or do something good with it. And I think it's incumbent on everybody with any amount of money at all to start thinking like that.
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[ Interview ] James V. Kimsey |
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Craig O. McCaw
Pioneer of Telecommunications
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Courage is merely a matter of being committed and being prepared to pay the price, whatever it is, for what you want to have happen. And when you're really committed and when you love what you do, you will pay that price. I always want to say that for my company, I would probably stand in front of a truck and start shooting at it to stop it because I wanted to defend the company. I viewed it as my responsibility to the people and the mission and the goals. And if my personal price was too high, I was prepared to pay it nevertheless, on behalf of the whole concept about what I was about.
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[ Interview ] Craig McCaw |
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If you give something to people in their interest, they will eventually realize it. If they don't know it on day one, it really isn't important. It's your job to think almost anthropologically about humanity and say, "What would be in their best interest?" And then try to get there first, and know that eventually they'll learn that what you have is worth their while. If I ever got a vision in business it was that, the Field of Dreams mentality, and that's how I've really operated in my career. I've never worried whether somebody else thought it was the right thing. If I believed it was the right thing, then I was prepared to build it and hoped that "they would come," based upon if I were that person and I were in their circumstances, that I would appreciate what product was being created and it was worthwhile.
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[ Interview ] Craig McCaw |
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With cellular telephony, in particular, we saw an enormous gap between what was and what should be. The idea that people went to a small cubicle, a six-by-ten office, and sat there all day at the end of a six-foot cord, was anathema to me. I mean, it makes absolutely no sense. It is machines dominating human beings. If one thing is obvious, people will pay, people will contribute something for control of their lives, the right to choose. And I think if anything we saw in cellular telephone it was that people were being subjugated needlessly to 1890's technology.
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[ Interview ] Craig McCaw |
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Cell Phone Debate
Craig O. McCaw and Jeong H. Kim have both made significant contributions to the world of telecommunications. McCaw says that the reason he wanted to be in the cellular communication business was because he "saw an enormous gap between what was and what should be." He didn't like the idea of people being stuck in their offices all day long waiting for a phone call. Jeong H. Kim talks about the "technological migration path" that is driving the telecommunications revolution towards the possibilities of fiber optics. Read both interviews. What are some of the ways that cellular phones have revolutionized the way we live? Investigate the positive and negative impacts of this relatively new device. Use the research links to find out about cities that have passed laws banning the use of cell phones while driving, as well as groups who claim that radiation from cell phones is a health hazard. Write an editorial to your local newspaper that either celebrates or criticizes cell phone use.
The Game of the Future
America Online founder James V. Kimsey says that in the future "you'll walk into a room and there will be a flat screen on the wall and you will say 'Turn on,' and it will recognize your voice and turn on." The Information Age has already revolutionized many things in our everyday lives, including games. Research the background of computer games. What was the first one and how have they evolved since? Create a timeline for the history of the computer game. Then, develop your own computer game product line. Imagine that the type of screen Kimsey describes actually exists when designing your new game. How would a voice-activated screen change the way we play computer games? Use spreadsheets and storyboards to create a multimedia presentation that includes the basic outline of your game with characters and rules.
Online Communities
According to telecommunications pioneer Craig O. McCaw, "the Internet represents an almost "governmentless society" that "violates many of the philosophical principles by which people governed themselves in the first place." In what ways is the Internet like a new society? Can a society be borderless, classless and timeless? What defines society? What are other ways people define themselves other than their nationality and culture? Look at some of the dangers posed by the easy access of the Internet. Read McCaw's interview and pay close attention to his thoughts on the Internet's role in society. Then come up with a hypothesis on how the Internet may continue to change. Imagine what society will be like twenty years from now. Create an "Internet Society Map" that depicts a future world where people are identified according to their relationship to the larger "on-line" community. Include a graph depicting interest groups that could establish on-line communities.
Supplying The Demand
In his interview, James V. Kimsey, the founder of America Online, says that when he first started out, he didn't care what kind of business he was in because "the basic philosophy underlying every business was the same. It was about getting people to understand the wisdom of your vision," he says, "and about providing some kind of service or product to the clientele that they would appreciate and want to pay you for. I just had to figure out what those services and goods would be." Read Kimsey's interview in the Gallery of Business. What made America Online the kind of unique service that so many people wanted? Come up with a business plan for an information technology related service or good that you think your classmates would appreciate enough to pay you for. Create a multimedia presentation that outlines why your business would be a success, as well as a brochure for your new company.
The Turing Machine
The achievements of Craig O.McCaw, Jeong H. Kim and James V. Kimsey would have been impossible without the pioneering work of Alan Turing. Turing's "Colossus," the first electronic computer, took up the space of several rooms and ran on vacuum tubes. It also was the basis for much of today's computer science. Make a list of some of the advances in business that could not have occurred without the computer. Then, research the life of Alan Turing and write a historical profile. Be sure to include a description of the famous Turing Test and Turing's definition of artificial intelligence. Then create a list of questions you would like to ask Turing if you could interview him for your school newspaper.
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