Humans, Gilder claims, have the need to talk back and interact. According to Gilder, this can not be achieved through watching television. Gilder argues that television has a severe bottleneck effect on society, squeezing the consciousness and creativity out of it. Individuals are told how to think and what to think about. Although television was a superb technology for its time, it will ultimately phase out in the next generation.
Phones use a very small bandwidth over a long period of time.
Thus, as Gilder discusses, the telephone industry must change. Telecomputers, or teleputers, will be the dominant traffic of the future. The teleputer will allow individuals to interact, whether it be by reading newspapers or playing video games. The influence of the mass media will be limited, and, thus, the teleputer will give way to a new age of democracy. Clearly, the telecomputer will utterly transform the way we do business, conduct our homes, educate our children, view our culture and community, and spend our leisure time.