Mapping the path of the information superhighway.

The Internet is just one example that the future is now

On-ramps, traffic lanes, signposts, vehicles, potholes, bumps, and even roadkill are just a few of the cliches I've heard used to describe the products and services in and around the information superhighway.

The term information superhighway has become the buzz word for the '90s, particularly in the worlds of telecommunications and computers. But for many people that's all it is: a buzz word that conjures up more questions than answers.

What exactly is the information superhighway? Is it some type of futuristic fiber-optic infrastructure? Maybe the high-tech equivalent of the Alaskan pipeline? Or, is it a way of interacting with the world? A way of linking people and technologies? A way of empowering people to harness the power of existing technology? I believe it's the latter.

The information superhighway is not the future, but rather the present, something that is here today. The Internet is a glowing example. The Internet links millions of computers around the world -- powerful PCs that can easily out-compute the mainframes of yesteryear -- and it makes these links using existing telephone lines made of copper, not glass.

The information superhighway is the result of evolution. It represents continuous improvements to existing technology and small steps in the way people and technologies interact.

Killer application 

There are two basic types of change -- revolutionary and evolutionary. The personal computer, modern cellular phones, radio, television and even the VCR represent revolutionary changes. But what we see more often is evolutionary change -- continuous improvements and lots of small steps.

For example, just as the stereo evolved from mono radio and the color TV evolved from black and white, the information superhighway illustrates the evolutionary process which continuously improves upon existing technology.

Contrary to popular opinion, I believe the information superhighway does not represent sweeping revolutionary change. In the words of Don Valentine, a high-tech venture capitalist at Sequoia Partners, the thought that one day someone will throw a switch and the information superhighway will light up like a Christmas tree is "pure unadulterated bull."

So why, then, do we usually hear the information superhighway referred to in the future tense? One key reason: We don't yet have a "killer application" -- an application that makes the information superhighway indispensable, the way Super Mario Brothers helped launch the multibillion-dollar computer game industry. E-mail is just not enough to drive the information superhighway.

Without a hot application on the horizon, the adoption rate will continue at a fragmented, gradual pace. That's evolution. Like everything else, the information superhighway will continue to grow and change. New technologies such as fiber optics and satellites eventually will play important roles, increasing its power and potential applications.

Aside from the lack of a killer application, a large "pothole" in the information superhighway is its limited access. The term fiber optics is usually included in most descriptions of the highway. In our increasingly mobile society, fiber optics and high-tech cables are just not enough to meet our demand for fast, convenient communication. To be truly valuable, information must be able to reach the individual user, wherever he or she might be.

That's where cellular communications and other delivery systems such as satellites come into play. Cellular technology gives us the freedom to communicate from any place, at any time, and has the power to break the shackles that might otherwise bind us to a hardwired PC terminal.

Freedom will clearly factor into the evolution of the information superhighway. For an example, just look at the role of freedom in the growth of the wireless telecommunications industry. Over the past decade, cellular communications has evolved into a lot more than just a car phone.

Force for freedom

Coupled with a laptop computer and a portable fax machine, cellular phones are now an integral part of the "mobile office." Sales reps today have the freedom to spend more time in the field making sales calls, and at the end of the day a sales rep can file a sales report with the press of a button. No longer are busy executives bound to their desks.

In fact, a new all-in-one product called Simon just hit the market. Designed by IBM and BellSouth Cellular, Simon is a combination cellular phone, fax machine, pager, E-mail, calendar, pen-based notepad and personal organizer. Simon is the newest, most advanced version of a personal digital assistant, or "PDA."

Cellular-based PDAs such as Simon will serve as the mobile interface -- or "onramp" -- to the information superhighway. Through software now being developed, wireless PDAs will become even more functional. A hand-held PDA will link users to everything from on-line corporate information networks to the Internet.

Data transmission is emerging as a powerful application of wireless telecommunications. United Parcel Service uses L.A. Cellular's network as part of a real-time package tracking system. Data transmission is a prime example of how the information superhighway provides new, convenient ways of linking people with information and other people. Existing companies such as L.A. Cellular have made wireless data transmission a reality as an extension of existing technologies.

But the UPS case is just the beginning of data transmission. Through a cooperative effort of IBM and some of the country's major cellular carriers, we will soon have access to the next step in wireless data transmission through a powerful system called Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD).

Through CDPD, vast amounts of data will be sent over the network in packages or "packets" rather than in smaller bits. As we explore the opportunities in transmitting data, we'll find new applications that translate into further freedom. Imagine a vending machine that calls you when it needs new supplies, eliminating time wasted visiting every machine to gauge restocking needs.

These are just a few of the new and upcoming applications of wireless telecommunications. As the cellular industry continues to evolve, cellular will play an increasing role in the information superhighway.

During the next several years, companies such as AT&T, McCaw Cellular Communications, BellSouth Cellular, IBM and the "L.A. Cellulars" of the world will introduce new products and services that are continuous improvements along the information superhighway.

Those companies will be the real winners because they are out there today delivering technologies with real consumer benefit through an information superhighway that is already up and running.

Companies that wait around for someone to throw the switch on some type of a nationwide fiber-optic network will most likely be -- pardon the cliche -- "left in the dust."

Heil is president of Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Co., better known as L.A. Cellular, a Cerritos-based provider of cellular phone services in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.