we have reached the internet

1995/08/01 Aizpurua Sarasola, Joxerra Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Internet

Computer Assisted Teaching (PI) was a dream we had ten years ago. I think we were too optimistic about the possibilities offered by computers and programs. The existence of personal resistance together with technological limits made it practically impossible to fulfill the objectives of the time. In any case, I think that there was a step without a return, that is, that society was put in place towards computer science.

At this moment, most of the centers and companies have computers and both teaching and production can not be understood without the help of the computer.

At the beginning of this decade, two new steps have been incorporated into the computerization, multimedia and CD-ROM process. These two complementary concepts have expanded the new areas of use, not only in teaching and in companies, but also in the services sector that is emerging in the society in which we live (culture, leisure,...).

Products distributed in CD-ROM support will experience exponential growth until the end of the century, including games, encyclopedias, films, etc. They will be available.

But I don't think the path of the CD-ROM is stable. I think stability will come from the hand of telematics, so the CD-ROM is an intermediary that will cover time and intermediate needs until the implantation of the telematic era.

When it comes to combining telematics with society, it is still necessary to take many steps, such as the most suitable software and hardware infrastructures, the most numerous and versatile services of the existing ones, the cheapest prices and the change of mentality.

In this sense, INTERNET has been the first irreversible step in the socialization of telematics. Together with the usual telematic services: email, file transmission, queries in data banks, etc. offers other resources. The most important ones for me are, on the one hand, the possibility of being servers and clients and on the other, the tools of easy navigation (for example, WWW) available in the INTERNET services. The implementation of telematic networks will have a much easier way than that of the CD-ROM, since the computer infrastructure obtained for the CD ROM will be totally profitable, that is, the hardware specifications that the computers will have will be sufficient to manage the network information.

As for communications infrastructures, the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country is better positioned at European level thanks to the fiber optic network that has been developed for four years.

When we talk about technology, most of us come to mind new machines, robots or new materials. In this column, however, we have talked about information technology. When we develop software for OLI, we do not think about the importance of fast and adequate access to information in the future, not only in productive processes, but also in education and leisure.

Nowadays, there is no way to consult the information you want, when you want it and economically, but we know what it will be, the telematics and the Basques are not misplaced.