Technology

An excerpt from a recent panel discussion in Philadelphia on the future on the Internet. It was moderated by Terry Gross and took place November 1, 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania. The guests include James Gleick, who writes about technology for the New York Times Sunday Magazine; Paul Ginsparg, a theoretical physicist in Los Alamos; Sherry Turkle, author of "Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet"; and Paul Evan Peters, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information. Peters died a few days after participating in this panel.

Newspaper columnist and the etiquette expert, Judith Martin, otherwise known as Miss Manners. Her new book is "Miss Manners' Basic Training: Communication" (Crown News) about the social issues of phone answering machines, e-mail, and cyberspace.

The Head of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, Michael Dertouzos. Fifteen years ago he predicted an "Information Marketplace" like that of the Internet. In his new book, he continues to look ahead to the future of the information age, and how it will affect our lives: "What Will be: How the New World Information Will Change Our Lives."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "Classics for Dummies" on CD-Rom on the EMI label.

William Ulrich's new book is "The Year 2000 Software Crisis" (Yourdon Press). It is a guide to solving the problems that will arise in the millennium when computer software will translate the two-digit shorthand '00 as 1900, not 2000. For companies world-wide this computer failure could lead to business failure. Ulrich is President of Tactical Strategy Group, Inc. and a strategic Year 2000 advisor for corporations and government agencies.

Yang is co-founder of YAHOO, a directory to the World Wide Web. YAHOO has an online site, as well as a companion book. YAHOO is one of the most popular sites on the Web. Users can access YAHOO, once in the Web at http://www.yahoo.com. Yahoo's book is YAHOO! Unplugged.

Chess master Garry Kasparov may have lost to Deep Blue, but linguist Geoff Nunberg says there are some areas where humans will beat computers -- at least for now.

Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse talks about privacy in the digital age.

Author Robert Kanigel discusses his new biography, "The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency." (Viking) Taylor was a nineteenth century pioneer of business management. He developed Taylor's Scientific Management, a system which would encourage higher efficiency by creating more stressful work which was rewarded with higher wages.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the problems of navigating the internet.

Computer software engineer and NPR commentator Ellen Ullman. Her book is titled "Close to the Machine" (City Lights). It's her semi-autobiographical account of a computer programmer trying to reconcile her work -- machines and information -- with the need for human contact and the feel of living in the real world. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on the popularity of e-mail. Noting that in this "age of banter" e-mail suits us well.

Writer Ron Chernow has written a new biography one of America's most powerful men. His book is "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr." (Random House) Chernow has also written: "The House of Morgan," "The Warburgs," and "The Death of the Banker." The New York Times this month called Titan "a triumph of the art of biography."

Joshua Quitner and Michelle Slatalla are authors of "Speeding The Net: The Inside Story of Netscape and How It Challenged Microsoft." (Atlantic Monthly Press) Quittner is the computer columnist for Time magazine and an assistant managing editor at Time Inc's on-line site Pathfinder. Slatalla writes a technology column for The New York Times. They have also collaborated on the books: "Masters of Deception," "Flame War," "Mother's Day," and "Shoo-Fly Pie to Die."

Language critic Geoffrey Nunberg talks about the accuracy of automatic grammar checkers included with computer word processing programs like Microsoft Word.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the use of the first person pronouns to personalize everything from computers to contracts.

Hillis is one of the world's leading computer scientists and is the designer of the world's fastest computer. He's also Vice President and Disney Fellow at Walt Disney Imagineering. His new book is "The Pattern on the Stone: the simple ideas that make computers work" (Basic Books)

Linguist Geoff Nunberg talks about the inaccuracies of automatic translation systems on the Web.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on how the internet has change the way we talk. For example, the frequent use of words like cyber, e-cash, e-mail.

Founder and CEO of IDEO Product Development, David Kelley. He is one of America's leading design innovators. His design innovations include Apple's first mouse, Crest's "Neat Squeeze" toothpaste tube, squishy colorful Oral-B toothbrushes for children, Kodak's digital camera, and a portable heart defibrillator which the AMA says will save over 100,000 lives per year. Kelley's company is based in Palo Alto, California. He is also a professor at Stanford University's in the school's innovative Product Design program.