If the tolls for using the information highway are too high, interactivity may widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots, the rich and wired vs. the poor and un-plugged. Some plans call for charging hundreds of dollars for the "black box" in the first phase of interactivity. Other plans are cheaper, but would still levy a fee for services used. One suggestion is to make much of the data free to all users, similar to the way public libraries lend out books. IF that happens, some experts think that the new technology may eventually have a democratizing effect. Access to a universal information library could equalize opportunity. It's a shift from elitism to populism," says Bernard Luskin, president of Philips Interactive Media of America.
如果对信息公路收费过高，相互作用就会扩大富人与穷人、有钱联网者和无钱联网者之间的差距。有的计划要求在相互作用的第一阶段对"黑盒子"收几百美元。其他计划便宜一些，但仍然要对使用这些设施收费。一种意见是免费向所有用户提供大部分资料，就跟公共图书馆对外借书一样。如果真能那样.有些专家认为新技术可能最终会有一种民主化的效果。人人有机会使用信息库可能使机会均等，"这是从杰出人物统治论转向类似人民党主义的做法，"美国菲利浦相互作用媒介公司的伯纳德o鲁斯金说道。
In the next few years there's likely to be considerable debate over the realistic presentation of violence in the new generation of video games, which will include viewer -directed movies. It's one thing to zap a cartoon mutant in an arcade , quite another when clicking on the screen means shooting bullets and spilling blood from a human. Would you want your child-or any child-to play that game?
未来几年中，社会上可能会掀起一股辩论热潮，讨论包括观众导演的电影节目的新一代电视游戏节目中以逼真的手段来表现暴力行为的问题。在电视游戏娱乐厅的游戏节目中打死一个动画人物是一回事，但当你打开电视机就可以对一个真人射击并使其流血时，那便是完全不同的另一回事了。难道你希望你的孩子--或是任何别的孩子--玩这种游戏吗?
At this point, so much is still speculation. While the big players and major thinker s spin predictions, it's quite possible that some entrepreneur in a garage is coming up with a really new idea that will for ever alter the best-laid plans. "What we are looking at now is just the first generation," says Stephen Benton of MIT's Media Lab. In that case, the best advice is: hang on for the ride.
目前，这一切还都属猜测假想之事。在那些大投机家和设计师们为这一计划大肆宣传制造舆论的同时，很有可能某位企业家的头脑中会突然产生一个全新的设想，从而完全推翻他们最周密的计划。麻省理工学院媒介实验室的斯蒂芬o本顿说："我们现在所看到的只是第一代。"既然如此，我们且拭目以待吧。
(From Newsweek)
(选自《新闻周刊》1993年5月31日)