Realizing the information future: the Internet and beyond
Realizing the information future: the Internet and beyond
Computer networks: a systems approach
Computer networks: a systems approach
The unpredictable certainty: information infrastructure through 2000
The unpredictable certainty: information infrastructure through 2000
The evolution of untethered communications
The evolution of untethered communications
Keeping the U.S. Computer and Communications Industry Competitive: Convergence of Computing, Communications, and Entertainment
More than Screen Deep: Toward Every-Citizen Interface to the Nation's Information Infrastructure
More than Screen Deep: Toward Every-Citizen Interface to the Nation's Information Infrastructure
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Computing is increasingly inseparable from communications. This linkage, often referred to as convergence, is driven by technology and amplified by business trends. Both technology and business foster growth in networks--systems that use communications links to connect subsidiary systems (referred to as nodes), which may send, receive, and (re)direct information to allow it to get from sender to receiver. Communications businesses depend on computing technology for the equipment or services they supply, computing systems producers develop hardware and software that assume connections to networks and through networks to other computing systems, and information services depend on networks for transmission of content of all kinds and formats among sending and receiving computers. Convergence has fostered diversity in the devices used for communications: conventional computers, telephones, and televisions persist, while previously unnetworked devices (such as household appliances) are taking on communications capabilities, and entirely new kinds of devices are emerging. Late 1990s experimentation with network computers--devices intended for use with networks and having less built-in capability than conventional computers--is emblematic; so, too, is the proliferation of hand-held devices from cellular telephones to personal digital assistants (see PORTABLE COMPUTERS), that are gaining capabilities for Internet access and associated applications.