Projected improvement in cost per bit of random access memory . These price drops bring the technology into the reach of thousands of ordinary citizens of developed and developing countries. Figure 5 illustrates the fall in communications costs. Approximate capital cost per circuit . Storage technology costs .
Scientific advance is dependent on the efficient communication of ideas.
Given the developments described in the preceeding sections it is clear how the cheapness and availability of the technology has allowed people to get involved with computer-mediated conferencing. To provide an answer to this question it is useful to compare each of the media according to standard criteria. The written word allows the individual control over the rate and duration of the interaction. Verbal communication places the control in the hands of the group. Time and Space - does the group need to coincide either temporally or geographically in order for the communication to occur.