Services Services to be provided by the Information Superhighway are a topic for much debate. Interactivity Nearly all proposed applications involve some level of interactivity possible now with some combination of the television, telephone, and computer. For example, cable television's home shopping channels use the telephone to facilitate viewer purchases. The difference in the future is that the interactivity will be much more elaborate, more transparent to users, and in most cases, more fully integrated with terminal hardware. Publishing on the Information Superhighway Switched digital networks will make it possible for users on the Information Superhighway to communicate with one another.
Content consumers can also be content producers.
Free from the need for advance approval from carriers, a more democratic, less hierarchical structure will evolve, thereby furthering the goal of open access. This concept of digital publishing is important for the promotion of information diversity. Universities, business, and even individuals now have web sites. From The Focal Encyclopedia of Electronic Media . Reprinted with permission by Focal Press, an imprint of Butterworth-Heinemann, a member of the Reed Elsevier group.