THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605250703
SECTION: SPECIAL PAGE: V1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Special section
SERIES: THE FUTURE @ HAMPTON ROADS
Navigating tomorrow's world today
LENGTH: 35 lines
It used to be so easy.
There were no smart TVs, high-definition TVs, flat-panet TVs, projection TVs, big-screen TVs, cable-ready TVs or even color TVs, for that matter.
If you were lucky, with the right twist of the rabbit ears atop your black-and-white set, Uncle Miltie came in muffled and a bit fuzzy.
And we called it a miracle.
Today, in a society where more households have color TVs than telephones, politicians and business leaders declare we're headed for economic disaster if we all don't get to play ball in the Digital Age.
Some of us aren't sure it's worth the effort. Amidst the hype and hope that marks all the wondrous technology bombarding us at home, at work and in schools and health-care institutions, there's also a strong thread of skepticism.
Do we really need all this? Are we better off as a people because of it?
And even if we can answer a hearty ``yes,'' there comes another prickly question: where do we start?
We're neck deep in an acronymical soup of modern technologies - from CD-ROMs to DVDs. Will things ever slow down enough to let us do more than just treat water?
In search of answers to these questions, The Virginian-Pilot sent out a team of writers whose reports appear in this special section.
The report is edited by Ted Evanoff, The Virginian-Pilot's deputy business editor.
KEYWORDS: SPECIAL SECTION SUPPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY by CNB