Someone once said that if we tried to describe the human brain in computer terms, it looks as if we have a low bit rate, but very high resolution. For example, the telephone company decided a few years ago that seven numbers were the most that we could remember. That's a low bit-rate. Then they added three. In order to communicate richly detailed images that allow us to comprehend large volumes of data, we need to combine two technologies.
Computers have an ever-growing ability to transform data into recognizable images.
And we are making greater use of them every year. But to communicate these images among ourselves, we need networks capable of carrying those images to every house and business. We know how to do that technologically, but we have to unscramble the legal, regulatory and financial problems that have thus far threatened our ability to complete such a network. In the few places where this capacity now exists we are already using them to communicate in ways that enrich and even save our lives. We use it with Matthew Meredith, a six year old boy who recently underwent a bone marrow transplant.