The Road Ahead

By simplifying communication, the Internet is causing significant, broad changes. This article describes some effects of the Internet on teaching and research: the use of Web pages in teaching, spread of remote statistical analysis, eliminating journal page constraints, and the impact on activities that benefit from debate and discussion. It describes how congestion on the Internet fosters change in pricing and priorities. The article ends by pointing out that although the technical implications of an innovation are predictable, the major social implications often do not become apparent for years.