Lesson 8 An Interactive Life

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Lesson 8 An Interactive Life

• from Newsweek

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Introduction of the text
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Objectives

• To understand the text
• To learn the words and phrases about the
  interactive life
• To be familiar with the interactive life

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1. Introduction

• The text is taken from American Newsweek.
  Newsweek is American news weekly established in
  Dayton, Ohio in 1933. In it domestic and
  international news is summarized, analyzed and
  categorized according to topics each week. It
  also has special sections devoted to arts,
  science, medicine, sports, etc. it is one of the
  three largest newsweeklies of America and has a
  wide domestic and international circulation.

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The authors of the text, The authors

• Barbara Kantrowitz and Joshua Cooper Ramo
  regular contributors to Newsweek
• An Interactive Life was published in Newsweek
  on May 31, 1993

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2. Detailed study of the text

• Whats the meaning of the title?
• An Interactive Life a life which acts
  reciprocally, mutually, receives and gives in
  return
• An Interactive Life refers to the future life,
  meaning a life which acts reciprocally, mutually,
  receives and gives in return. This interactive
  life is the life with Internet, and this life
  will familiarize you with the world, change the
  ways you shop, play and learn.

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What does the essay try to describe to us?

• The essay describes to us an interactive lifethe
  future life that will fully involves us all
  interactively, and suggest us that we should hang
  on for a ride even though we do not know when
  this life will come.

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Para. 1 Stepping into the past
so as to understand the
future

• Why do people have to step back to see the
  future?

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• Because the past indicates the development of the
  human history. We learn from history that every
  invention in history brings about great
  development. Techniques have marked different
  eras over the centuries from the primitive tools
  of the Stone Age, to the Industrial Age marked by
  steam and electrical power and the discovery of
  turbines, and engines. Today, we have entered a
  new era the computer age and Information Age.

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Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

• American inventor,
• one of the
• greatest inventors of all time.

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Edison

• began to work at an early age and continued to
  work right up until his death.
• Throughout his prolific career as an inventor, he
  was well known for his focus and determination.

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During his career

• Edison patented more than 1,000 inventions,
  including the electric light, the phonograph, and
  the motion-picture camera.
• These three inventions gave rise to giant
  industrieselectric utilities, phonograph and
  record companies, and the film industrythus
  changing the work and leisure habits of people
  throughout the world.

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Age of Edison

• The period from 1879 to 1900, when Edison
  produced and perfected most of his devices, has
  been called the Age of Edison.

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Edison National Historical Site in West Orange,
N. J.
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Edison National Historical Site in West Orange,
N. J.

• It is a museum about 15 miles west of New York
  City, New York.
• It now has closed for major rehabilitation work.
  The Site plans to reopen sometime in 2006.

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Edison National Historical Site

• For more than forty years, the laboratory created
  by Thomas Alva Edison in West Orange, New Jersey,
  had enormous impact on the lives of millions of
  people worldwide.
• Out of the West Orange laboratories came the
  motion picture camera, vastly improved
  phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound
  movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric
  storage battery.

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• Edison National Historic Site provides a unique
  opportunity to interpret and experience important
  aspects of America's industrial, social and
  economic past, and to learn from the legacy of
  the world's best known inventor.
• Today, the Laboratory remains a powerful symbol
  of American technical ingenuity and productive
  power.

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• In the decades represented by the display, the
  concept and purpose of sound recording changed
  dramatically In the tens of years covered by the
  machines on exhibition, the idea and purpose of
  sound recording experienced great changes.

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Edison conceived of his phonograph as a business
machine that would help people in distant places
communicate

• Edison designed and developed his sound recording
  machine as a working tool for people to talk to
  each other over long distance. conceive of
  ..(as) think of (as), imagine(as)

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He intended to record voicesnothing more

• His only intention in inventing the machine was
  the recording of voices. 

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envisioned the greater potential for

• His competitors,/His business rivals, adversaries
  saw in their minds that there was great
  possibility of using the machine for
  entertainment and art.

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envision

• picture in the mind. Am.E
• envisage see in the mind as a future
  possibility foresee
• e.g. It should be quite simple I dont envisage
  /envision any difficulty.
• envision doing/ that When do you envision being
  able/ that you will be able to pay me back?
  potential future possibility

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Where he saw internal memos, someone else saw
Beethoven

• He imagined that the machine could record
  informal communication between departments in a
  company but other people thought it could be used
  to record music.
• Edison applied the machine to business while
  others to a different thing, musicentertainment.

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memomemorandum (formal)

• a note from one person or office to another
  within the same firm or organization a note of
  sth. to be remembered.
• e.g. I made a memo on my memo pad to buy more
  coffee.
• Beethoven metonymy, referring to the music by
  Beethoven

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Why do the authors say Where he saw internal
memos, someone else saw Beethoven?

• Because by saying this, he means to gives an
  example how Edisons invention brought about the
  development.

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Para.2 definition of the interactive life
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a similar memorial tobreakthroughinteractivity

• to have a place like the Edison National
  Historical Site in memory of those who make the
  important advance recently in interactivity
  although it has not been able to do all the
  things the creators promised.

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memorial (to)

• n. sth. esp. a stone monument, in memory of a
  person, event, etc.
• e.g. a war memorial (in memory of dead soldiers)
  a memorial sculpture.
• The church service is a memorial to those killed
  in the war.

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What do you think is the latest
breakthroughinteractivity?

• The Internet is the latest breakthroughinteractiv
  ity in particular, because it has created a brand
  new environment. A new culture has been born
  free, rapid, and universal where people share
  their knowledge and expertise. Information and
  communication techniques have been turned upside
  down, distance has been eliminated, frontiers
  abolished. A tremendous interactive potential is
  burgeoning on our planet Earth today. Like it or
  lump it none can stop it!

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Can you mention one or two of the creators of the
latest breakthroughinteractivity?

• The inventors in 1990 of the World Wide Web
  (WWW), which revolutionized the contemporary
  computer world, did not become millionaires.
  British Tim Berners-Lee and Belgian Robert
  Caillau, both researchers at European Centre for
  Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, did not make
  any money through their invention of the WWW.
  They refused to patent it. They feared that in so
  doing, the use of the Web would prove
  prohibitively expensive preventing its use
  worldwide. Thus, they passed up a fortune so that
  our world can learn and communicate today, and we
  should be grateful to them for their foresight.

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With, theres no limit to the hype

• Since large sums of money have been spent on an
  idea which is mainly in the planning stage, since
  great hopes have been put on such idea, there
  certainly is a lot of exaggerated publicity.

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  on the drawing board in the planning stage

• hype n. (infml. often derog.) loud, exaggerated
  promotion or publicity attempts to get a lot of
  public attention for things or people by saying
  loudly and often that they are very good, or
  better than they really are
• e.g. media hype ????
• to hype v. hyping their latest record with a lot
  of interviews ????????????????

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      from airline schedules to esoteric
scientific journals to video versions of
off-off-off Broadway.

• To put it in a simple way, the most wonderful
  thing is that if you press a button, you will be
  able to get a large amount of information over a
  wide range of topics, from something common like
  airline schedules to something very professional
  like esoteric scientific journals to something
  untraditional like video versions of off-off-off
  Broadway

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esoteric scientific journals

• magazines on science written in such a way as to
  be understood only by a few who know the subject

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Broadway

• New York City thoroughfare that traverses the
  length of Manhattan, near the middle of which are
  clustered the theatres that have long made it the
  foremost showcase of commercial stage
  entertainment in the United States. The term
  Broadway is virtually synonymous with American
  theatrical activity. Broadway gained its name as
  the axis of an important theatre district. 

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off-off-off Broadway

• Shows that cannot make into Broadway are called
  "off Broadway."
• If a show is really bad, or really small in
  scale, it is even less than off Broadway show.
• Broadway shows are usually big budget productions
  with famous producers.
• Newer shows usually start as off Broadway,
  meaning that they are performed in some smaller
  theaters, usually in some other odd places like
  the village. Some of these off Broadway shows can
  become successful and eventually become a
  Broadway show, but mostly that never happens.

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At various points version of Terminator XII

• Terminator XII an American science fiction movie
  series, starring the popular actor, Arnold
  Schwarzengger. The number XII implies a future
  installment of the series.
• At different places, you can turn on the device
  for other possible development of the story and
  offer your own variation.

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Say you shoot a video that you think is
particularly artsy.

• For example, you film a video which you think has
  special artistic pretensions or quality.

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Beam it out and make a small fortune by charging
an untold number of viewers a fee for watching

• Send out the video and ask those who have watched
  it to pay a fee. In this way you can make quite a
  sum of money.

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Peter Jennings would be obsolete

• There is no longer any need for news anchorman
  because anyone can record news with a
  video-camera and put it on the universal network
  for everybody else to see.
• obsolete no long used out of date e.g.
  obsolete machine, obsolete idea

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On the receiving end, the no-brainer will have
finally arrived

• For viewers, the time of no need to bother about
  the selection of programmes will have finally
  arrived.on the receiving end for those who are
  the viewers. the era of the no-brainer the
  period of no need to bother about the selection
  of programmes.

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Para.3 a hard time

• Sounds great in theory how it will actually
  work
• In theory the whole idea seems wonderful but even
  for those who firmly believe in this, it is
  difficult to work out the details of how it will
  actually function.

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come to concern

• e.g. When it comes to politics/ to repairing
  cars, I know nothing.
• nailing down making sure, settling
• to nail sb. down to force (a person) to state
  clearly their intention or wishes. e.g. Before
  they repair the car, nail them down to a
  price.(make them tell how much it will cost).
• to nail sth. up If you nail sth. up, you fix it
  to a vertical surface using nails. e.g. the
  warning notice that he had nailed up on the pole
• specifics details, particulars

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How will we negotiate still find time to sleep?

• How shall we handle and manage such a large
  quantity of data and still have time to sleep?
• negotiate infml. to succeed in dealing with or
  getting past (sth. difficult) succeed in
  crossing, surmounting, moving through,
  overcominge.g. to negotiate a steep hill/ sharp
  bend in ones car
• mass a large quantity or number  

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Will government regulate messages sent out on
this vast data highway?

• Will government formulate regulations to control
  and govern the kind and number of communications
  sent over the numerous channels?
• data highway the authors are comparing the
  transmission in the air to a busy highway and
  information, data travels along the highway. This
  is a vivid metaphor. 

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And frankly, what do we need all this stuff for
anyway?

• This is no longer a question on specifics. It
  inquires/makes a search, investigate into the
  usefulness and ultimate purpose of such an idea.
  

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 Para. 4 near future life

• Were a long way from Wild Palms
• There is still great distance before we can reach
  the stage as depicted in the TV series Wild
  Palms.

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Wild Palms is a TV miniseries directed by Oliver
Stone. It was released in 1993. It is a science
fiction

• Los Angeles in the near future, Harry Wykoff
  accepts a job as presidents of a gigantic TV
  company. He is confronted with a total new
  technology called "The New Reality" where
  three-dimensional TV animated pictures are
  projected in living rooms all around the world.
  Harry launches to the top of the company with his
  career but once there he is caught in a web of
  intrigues, betrayal and murder. A game of life
  and death begins

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But even if computers will be entering a new and
deeper phase within a year or two

• But even if we are still far away from the
  technological disorder of that highly imaginative
  TV series, some consumers may actually find that
  their relationships with their TVs, telephones
  and computers will develop to a higher order
  within a year or two.

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techno-chaos

• technological disorder or confusion
• futuristic dealing with the future, esp. by
  imagining what may happen thene.g. She writes
  futuristic novels about voyages to distant
  galaxies.
• the futuristic fantasy highly imaginative TV
  series, with stress on the speed, flux and
  violence of the machine age The futuristic
  fantasy mini-series refer to Wild Palm. 

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Insteadthrough a menu displayed on the TV.

• If you want to see a film, you dont need to rent
  a tape and play it on your VCR. Instead, you may
  pick one from the catalog shown on the TV and
  phone the library of thousand movies to have it
  beamed to you.

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Game fanatics library filled with realistic
video versions of arcade shoot em-ups

• Those who are obsessed /absorbed in video games
  may do it in the same way by contacting another
  electronic library which has a large number of
  video tapes recording the actual shootings and
  killings seen in video game.  

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fanatic n.

• often derog. a person who shows very great and
  often unreasoning keenness for sth. esp. for a
  religious or political belief. e.g. a health
  food fanatic The heathen temple was torn down by
  a crowd of religious fanatics.

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realistic

• (of art or lit.) showing or describing things as
  they really are.e.g. a realistic drawing of a
  horse

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arcade

• a roofed passageway esp. one with shops on either
  side a covered passage, esp. one with a roof
  supported by arches or with a row of shops on one
  or both sides a place full of machines which
  spin numbers or with which one can play games
  after putting coins into them. In the text it
  refers to an amusement center having
  coin-operated games a video arcade

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shoot-em-up

• a movie or television show featuring much
  physical violence, esp. shooting and killing

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Instead of flipping J.Crew andof Victorias
Secret, the latest gear

• Those who want to do shopping at home do not need
  to look through catalogs published by garment
  companies. They may watch video catalogs with
  women displaying front and rear views of the
  newest fashion of clothing. 

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J. Crew

• a catalogue published by J. Crew, a company
  selling casual wear for the rich
• Victorias Secret a catalogue published by
  Victorias Secret, a company selling women
  undergarments
• gear (often in comb) clothing or an article of
  clothing esp. for a particular purpose football
  gear headgear. 

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select camera angles for sporting events

• choose how one would like to watch the ball games
  or other athletic competition.

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Para. 5 fake interactive  
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What is called fake interactive?

• Channel-surfing with the remotes, ordering
  pay-for-view movies and running up the
  credit-card bills on the Home Shopping Network
  can be called fake interactive, because it is
  just one step past passive viewing, pure
  couch-potato mode.
• couch-potato  a person who spends most of his
  time on a couch watching TV

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newsletter

• a small sheet of printed news sent regularly to a
  particular group of people the company newsletter
  ??????? 

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Why does Caruso call this fake interactive?

• It is not considered genuine interactivity
  because it is not revolutionary enough and is
  just one step beyond passive viewing. It is still
  the traditional form of sitting on the couch
  watching. 

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couch-potato

• a person who spends most of his time on a couch
  watching TV version
• one persons account of an event, esp. as
  compared with that of another person 

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To some degree, on the Home Shopping Network

• To a certain extent, viewers have already
  accepted quite a bit of false interactivity, such
  as using their remote control devices to quickly
  choose a suitable program, ordering film to be
  paid for seeing and doing shopping at home with
  credit cards so frequently that the bills
  accumulate.
• run up to cause oneself to have (bills or debts)
  e.g. She ran up a large phone bill. 

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Para.6 true interactive

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What is called true interactive?

• The major changes in the technological and
  regulatory infrastructure can be called true
  interactive, for example, the use of the
  multimedia and World Wide Web,

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Moving beyond phase one, into what Caruso calls
true interactive, will require major changes
in the technological and regulatory
infrastructure

• Getting over the first stage and moving into what
  Caruso terms as real interactive, people need
  to bring about great changes in the basic
  structure on which technology and regulation
  rest. 

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infrastructure

• the system or structures which are necessary for
  the operation of a country or an
  organizationVast sums are needed to maintain the
  infrastructure (water / power/ road system)A
  countrys economic infrastructure (its banks and
  other organizations which handle and control its
  moneycf. superstructure 

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to use a TV fronting for a gigantic hard disc
full of all kinds of data

• to use a TV receiver that functions more like a
  computer screen acting as a front for a gigantic
  hard disc full of all kinds of data
• to front for to act as a front for 

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Para.7 basic changes

• The shows of the future may be the technological
  great grandchildren of current CD-ROM titles
• Future programs may be the technological
  descendants of todays CD-ROM discs.CD-ROM
• Compact Discs with Read-Only-Memorytitles discs
  of movies or TV programs

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CD-ROMs do provide a glimpse of what the future
might hold, however

• In spite of that, CD-ROMs still give you a
  chance to have a brief look at what will be in
  store for us in the future.
• hold to be in store 

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still photographs

• static photographs 

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Philips Interactive clicking on the screen.
Other titles Jazz Giants, a musical history,
and Escape from CyberCity, an animated
adventure game

• Philips Interactive machine, for example, has
  many discs, among them a visit to Smithsonian in
  which the viewer may decide on which part on the
  museum to visit and turn on the television by
  clicking on the screen. Other discs Jazz
  Giants, a musical history, and Escape from
  CyberCity, an exciting experience filled with
  activity and vigor.

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Philips Interactive

• an interactive machine manufactured by Philips
  Interactive Media of America
• Smithsonian Smithsonian Institution, research
  and education center, at Washington D.C. founded
  in 1846. Today it is a vast complex, housing many
  museums, art galleries, research institutes, etc.
  
• ByberCity a city controlled by computers etc.  

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Para.8 interactive market

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Many investors are betting on entertainment as
the most lucrative interactive market

• Many investors are confident that amusement will
  be the most profitable market for interactive
  products. 

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bet vt. vi. risk on the future event

• e.g. I(ll) bet (you) (5) that they will win the
  next election.He bet me five pence that he would
  win.Its foolish to bet on horses.Bet on the
  wrong horse He expected Stevenson to be elected
  President in 1952 but as it happened, he bet on
  the wrong horse.I bet Im sure.I bet you
  cant do this puzzle.
• lucrative profitable 

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But some industry observers predict the
development of two parallel home markets, one
catering to leisure activities and the other to
business

• But some industry people following the market
  trend say that in the future there will be two
  markets at home developing side by side, one
  serving the needs for entertainment, the other
  providing what is needed by businesstwo parallel
  home markets two house markets running side by
  side but not crossing each other.

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cater to

• to take account of and provide with what is
  necessary try to satisfye.g. Some magazines
  cater to boys.She refused to cater to his
  ridiculous demands.The doting husband catered to
  his wifes every wish.
• leisure activities entertainment 

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Hawkins says an outlet for teleconferencing and
potable computing devices

• Hawkins says the people who work at home are
  computer based and provide a market for
  teleconferencing devices and movable computing
  devices 

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Hawkins

• Diana Hawkins, who is running an interactive TV
  consulting firm
• the work-at-home market those people who stay at
  home to do their work and have their computers
  linked with the office terminals.
• outlet market

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teleconferencing devices

• equipments used for holding a conference of
  individuals in different locations, as by
  speakerphone, closedcircuit TV, etc.
• portable computing devices equipments used for
  calculation which can be easily carried around 

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like the Newton touted by Apple chairman John
Sculley that can be carried in a pocket and runs
on handwritten commands scribbled on a small
screen.

• like the Newton such as the device named the
  Newton
• tout to praise greatly, esp. as a form of
  advertising recommend highly
• Apple an American computer companyruns on a
  handwritten commands scribbled on a small screen
  operates on instructions written by hand on a
  small screen in a casual way  

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Para.9 complete viewer control

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What is called complete viewer control?

• When people have access to thousands of channels
  delivered through some combination of cable,
  telephone, satellite and cellular networks, which
  provide data from computer-based archives and
  information services, complete viewer control
  is reached.

87
If all this comes to passstill a very big ifthe
next step could be what Digital Medias Caruso
calls complete viewer control

• If all this comes true, which is still uncertain
  that it will be realized, the next step will
  possibly be complete viewer control as what
  Digital Medias Caruso calls.
• come to pass come about or happenstill a very
  big if so far, it is still not certain that this
  will be realized could demoting possibility 

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She says consumers would be a little like
information cowboys, rounding up data from
computer-based archives and information services.

• She compares consumers to cowboys. The cowboys
  round up cattle while the consumers round up
  data.
• archives (a place for storing) historical
  materials, such as old papers, letters, and
  reports concerning a government, family,
  organization, etc. kept esp. for historical
  interest 

89
cellular

• mobile phone, using a network of radio stations
  to pass on signals 

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To prevent getting trampled viewer wants

• To avoid being overwhelmed by a large amount of
  in-coming data, the viewer will depend on an
  electronic device with coded instructions to
  choose from the mass of information the kind of
  things he needs. The authors here continue to
  follow the metaphor of cowboy Hence words like
  trample, stampede, corral, rope in

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trample crush, destroy by or as by treading
heavily on

• stampede a sudden, headlong running away of a
  group of frightened animals, esp. horses or
  cattle a sudden mad rush or mass movemente.g.
  Theres been a stampede to buy gold before the
  price goes up.
• corral an enclosure for holding horses, cattle
  or other animals pen an enclosed area, esp. in
  North America where cattle etc. are kept
• rope in to enclose (animals ) with ropes 

92
Para. 10. final
frontier
What is called final frontier? A complete
two-way link of video, audio and data is called
final frontier. According to Red Burns, chair
of the interactive Telecommunications Program at
New York University, Interactive means we are
all involved. There is no viewer. Interactive
is like a conversation.
93
Carusos final frontier is a complete two-way
link of video, audio and data

• the last new field of learning beyond which there
  is no more unexplored field is what she calls
  video and telephonic transmission, a complete
  two-way link of video, audio and data.
• telephony the science of telephonic transmission
  
• two-way used for both transmission and
  reception

94
At the very least, it would probably mean the end
of anonymous obscene phone calls

• At any rate, it would probably make impossible
  phone calls to women in indecent, offensive
  language by people who would not disclose their
  names or identities because you would be able to
  see the images.obscene adj. (esp. of ideas,
  books, etc. usu. about sex) offensive to accepted
  ideas of morality indecent e.g. The police
  seized a quantity of obscene publications.Its
  obscene (shocking) that people should still be
  dying of starving in the 1980s.

95
chair

• chairperson the position of professore.g.
  Please address your remarks to the chair.Who
  will be in the chair at tomorrows meeting?She
  holds a chair of chemistry in the university. 

96
Para. 11 interactivity and
convergence

•   Interactivity may be the biggest buzzword of
  the moment, but convergence is a close second
• Interactivity for the time being may be the
  most used word which has little meaning but
  sounds impressive to outsiders while
  convergence follows interactivity closely in
  second place in frequency.  

97
convergence

• act or condition of moving towards the same
  place, result v. converge adj. convergent
• ant. divergence v. diverge adj. divergente.g.
  The roads converge just before the station. This
  is where our opinions diverge (from each
  other).divergent opinionsconvergent lines 

98
To the moneymen, it means that everything will
come together and theyll clean up

• To the business people, it means that everything
  will move toward the same place and they will
  make a lot of profit.
• clean up to make much money or profit e.g. We
  really cleaned up at the races today. He cleaned
  up a fortune playing cards.
• to clean sth. up to clean thoroughly and remove
  anything unwantede.g Its your turn to clean
  (the kitchen) up.Clean up this mess at once! 

99
To scientists, it means a critical point where
fantasy could now become reality

• To scientists, it means that technology has
  developed to such a stage that what was
  considered as wide notion can now be realized and
  become a fact. 

100
Nicholas Negroponte, director of MITs Media Lab,
a leading think tank in this new world

• Nicholas Negroponte, director of MITs Media Lab,
  one of principal research centers for offering
  proposals on current issues to official agencies
  in the new research field of new medium

101
MIT acronym for Massachusetts Institute of
Technology

• a leading tank one of the principal research
  centers for offering proposals on current issues
  to official agencies
• think tank a group or institution organized for
  intensive research and problem-solving, esp. in
  the area of technology or political strategy.  

102
(Senator) Proximires Golden Fleece awards

• William Proxmire, U.S. Senator (1957), opposed
  wasteful government spending, especially by the
  military, so he put forward Golden Fleece award
  a prize awarded to a government project
  considered to be the most silly, wasteful and
  corrupt

103
Now, politicians, from President Clinton
video-11on down, are falling over themselves to
proclaim support for the new medium

• At present, politicians starting from President
  Clinton all the way down to lower-level officials
  are eager and willing to state that they are for
  the new medium.
• fall over oneself to be eager and willing (to do
  sth.)If you are falling over yourself to do sth.
  youre very keen to do it.e.g. Producers were
  falling over themselves to hire girls who had
  acting experience. 

104
Para. 12
possible dreams

• These dreams are possible because researchers
  have made vast leaps in both the quality and
  quantity of data transmittal
• These dreams are possible because researchers
  have made big advances in both the quality and
  quantity of information transmission
• data transmittal the sending out of information
• transmittal transmission 

105
Today a chip with the capacity of 4 million
transistors costs about a tenth of a cent per
transistor

• Today an integrated circuit can hold as much
  information as 4 million transistors but the cost
  is only one tenth of a cent per transistor. It
  implies that the chip has a large capacity and it
  is very cheap, too.

106
Para. 13 electronic highway clogged

•   
• these electronic highways have become clogged
  the wires, cables or air can no longer carry the
  increased number of signalsbecome clogged
  become stopped up become jammed, blockedclog
  become blocked or filled so that movement or
  activity is very difficult

107
Para.14 digitalization
108
What makes interactivity possible?

• Digitalization, fiber optic cables and large
  capacity chips make it possible.

109
Both of these developments are possible because
of digitalization

• Both of these fiber cable developments are
  possible because of digitalization.
• digitalization the turning of data into a
  numerical description expressed in digits.
• digitalize v. putting information into a digital
  form
• digit n. any of the numbers from 0 to 9 e.g.
  The number 2001 contains 4 digits. 

110
Called binary formatting, the system expresses
numbers and letters in a code using only 1 and 0

• The system is a number system with each number
  being expressed by an arrangement of two numerals
  1 and 0. It turns every number or letter into a
  code using only 1 and 0.
• binary system consisting of two things or parts,
  doubleThe binary system is used in computers
  because the two numbers 0 and 1 can be
  represented by an electrical signal that is
  either off or on.  

111
Originally, this code was stored as on-or-off
electrical charges

• Originally, this signal was kept in a computer
  memory unit as electrical energy which can be
  sent out or stopped. 

112
pulses of light

• light waves 

113
Bringing high-speed computers into the loop means
that much more complicated information can be
digitized

• By linking high-speed computers with the
  complete fibre-optic cable system, people will be
  able to turn very complicated information into a
  code using only 1 and 0.loop a complete
  circuit the complete fibre-optic cable system 
• unimedia single medium ant. multimedia 

114
Bits are bits

• Digits are digits
• All are digits and digits.
• bit a single digit in a binary number system  

115

Para. 15. experiment of intelligent agents

• to experiment with the future to conduct
  experiments in order to invent devices for future
  use.
•  

116
  artificial intelligence

• man-made intelligence
• to build some working intelligent agents
• to produce some artificial device which can solve
  problems, direct conduct by reasoning and which
  can function properly, e.g. electronic device

117
an actor dressed as a butler took the stage

• an actor dressed as a chief male servant of a
  house acting on the stage

118
In one program, Maes has created four icons on
the computer screen representing agents with
specific marching orders

• In one of the coded instructions for operations
  performed by a computer, Maes has created four
  images on the computer screen representing
  different artificial persons, each programmed
  with a set of concrete instructions.
• icon an image, a small sign shown on a computer
  screen which you point it with a mouse so as to
  make the computer perform a particular operation
•  

119
Although the agentsthey actually learn by
watching their masters preferences

• Although these artificial intelligent persons are
  only given coded instructions for the fist time,
  they come to know a lot by watching what their
  masters are interested in.
•  

120
Imagine the conversation Have I got a
compatible user for you!

• Try to think what the conversation would be like
  I have got a user who will suit you fine!
• compatible (with) able to exist together, live
  together or be used together or with (another
  thing)
• Their marriage ended because they were simply not
  compatible.
• Is your computer compatible with my equipment?

121
Para 16. dark side of interactive life

• What will be the dark side to the interactivity?
• Therell be no protection for the privacy of
  consumers whose shopping, viewing and
  recreational habits are all fed in one
  cable-phone company data bank. Interactivity may
  widen the gap between the rich and wired vs. the
  poor and unplugged. Theres likely to be
  considerable debated over the realistic
  presentation of violence in the new generation of
  video games, which will include viewer directed
  movies.

122
Maes and others concede that theres a dark side
to all these bright dreams.

• Maes and others acknowledge that theres a bad
  effect to all these bright dreams.
• concede admit as valid acknowledge
• a dark side disadvantage bad effect

123
Who will protect cable-phone company data bank?

• Who will protect ones private life or personal
  affairs such as shopping, viewing and
  recreational habits that are all put into a data
  bank of a company through the cable-phone
• viewing habit what one likes to watch
• are all fed into one cable-phone company data
  bank are all put steadily into a data bank of a
  company through the cable-phone
• data bank a large collection of data in a
  computer, organized so that it can be expanded,
  updated and retrieved rapidly for various use  

124
And where there are agents, can counteragents be
far behind

• spies who might like to keep tabs on the
  activities of your electronic butlers? In
  whatever place in which there are agents, spies
  will be there soon.
•  
• can counteragents be far behind a parody. This
  is an imitation of British poet Shellys Ode to
  the West Wind in which the last line runs If
  winter comes, can spring be far behind?

125
keep tabs on

• to keep checks on follow or watch every move of
  watch closely
• The police have been keeping tabs/ a tab on him.
• electronic butler the head servant of a
  household who is an artificial intelligence
  device

126
Indeed, intelligent agents could be a gold mine
of information

• Certainly these electronic devices are a source
  e of valuable information.

127
Advertisers arent the only ones who could abuse
the network if they were able to tap into it

• Advertisers are not the only people who could
  wrongly exploit and benefit from the network so
  long as they were able to make a secret
  connection with the network.
• tap into to tap to make use of to listen
  secretly or illegally to (a person, telephone
  conversation, etc.) by making a connection to
  (the telephone , a telephone wire, etc.)

128
Para. 17 gap between the haves and the have-nots

• Why may interactivity widen the gap?
• Because those who have access to the information
  may have better opportunities since information
  and the speed of acquiring information are
  decisive in todays competition.

129
If the tolls for using the rich and wired vs.
the poor and unplugged

• If the charge for using the information highway
  is too high, interactivity may widen the gap
  between the rich people who have access to the
  network and the poor people who dont have

130
toll a charge for service or extra service

• have a person or nation with relatively much
  wealth or rich resources
• have-not a person or nation with little or no
  wealth or resources
• vs standing for versus meaning in contrast with
• the wired those who have access to the network
• the unplugged those who cannot afford to use the
  information highway

131
   levy a fee for services used

• impose and collect certain amount of money for
  using the facilities
• levy a fee (to , upon) v. to demand and collect
  officially
• e.g. to levy a tax on tobacco ?????
•  

132
the new technology may eventually have a
democratizing effect

• the new technology may in the end have the effect
  of making society more democratic
•  

133
  Its a shift from elitism to populism

• Its a change from monopoly of information by a
  small group of the rich and privileged to a
  situation in which information is shared by all.

134
elitism

• n. U derog. (behavior based on) the belief that
  there should be elites and that they deserve
  power, influence, special treatment, etc.
  (believe in a) system, leadership, etc. that aims
  at developing an elite
• populism n. type of politics that claims to
  represent the interests of ordinary people
• populist a person who claims to believe in the
  wisdom and judgment of ordinary people, esp. in
  political matters.

135
Para. 18 considerable debate

• In the next few years theres likely to be
  considerable debate over the realistic
  presentation of violence in the new generation of
  video games, which will include viewer-directed
  movies
• In the next few years there may be quite a lot of
  discussion over whether it is good or bad,
  whether it should be allowed to have display of
  actual violence in the new stage of video games,
  including movies planned and controlled by
  viewers. 

136
Its 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

• To kill a cartoon man quickly in video game shops
  is entirely different from seeing the killing of
  a genuine human by turning on the television.

137
Its one thing (its) quite another

• this is a useful pattern, denoting contrast
• e.g It is one thing for a teacher to speak and
  understand a language, quite another to
  consciously understand and explain the system of
  that language.

138
to zap

• infml. to attack or destroy to kill sb. esp.
  with a gun
• mutant
• n. a living thing which has a quality different
  from any of its parents qualities and produced
  by mutation a living thing that is deformed or
  disfigured as a result of genetic change
•  

139
Para. 19 advice

• What is the advice the authors give at the end of
  the essay?
• In that case, hang on for the ride.

140
At this point, so much is still speculation

• At the present stage, a lot of things are still
  guesswork.
•  

141
while the big players and major thinkers spin
predictions

• while the big gamblers and main designers produce
  statements

142
  In that case, the best advice is hang on for
the ride

• If that is the situation, the best thing to do is
  to join in passively waiting for future changes.

143
3. Structure analysis

• 1. Paragraphs 1-2 Introduction of interactive
  life
• a huge amount of information available to anyone
  at the touch of a button
• 2. Paragraphs 3-18 description of interactive
  life
• A. difficult to understand because its still a
  long way
• B. four phases fake interactive, true
  interactive, complete viewer control, and final
  frontier
• C. possible dreams because of large capacity
  chip, fibre optic cables and digitalization
• D. dark side no privacy, wide gap, considerable
  debate
• 3. Paragraph 19 Suggestion
• hanging on for the ride

144
4. Language appreciation

• The authors describe an interactive life of the
  future from three aspects.
• First they introduce many imaginative images
  about an interactive life to readers
• then they go on to describe many possible
  features of this future life.
• At last they analyze the dark side of these
  dreams.

145

• As the essay is a scientific writing, it contains
  many technical terms and long sentences. To make
  such a complicated technical assumption vivid and
  interesting, the authors used figures of speech
  such as metaphor, metonymy and rhetorical
  question.

146
5. Summary of words and phrases

• Words of general use
• conceive of as
• envision
• potential
• hype
• nail down
• obsolete
• flip through
• cater to
• outlet

147

• trample
• stampede
• round up
• buzzword
• convergence
• clean up
• think tank
• fall over oneself to do
• compatible
• concede

148

• keep tabs on
• levy a fee
• its one thing quite another
• speculation
• prediction
• entrepreneur

149
Words related to computer

• button
• programme
• click on
• data highway
• menu
• game fanatic
• video version video telephony
• fiber-optic cable
• transmit transmittal transmission

150

• computer screen monitor receiver
• front for
• hard disc
• network
• CD-ROM titles
• animated
• computer based
• teleconference telecommunications

151

• portable computing device
• two-way link of video, audio and data
• beam back and forth
• silicon chip
• transistor
• capacity
• pulse of light
• loop
• digitize digitalization digit

152

• bit
• multimedia
• icon
• intelligent agent
• unplug
• arcade
• a cartoon mutant
• tap into
•  

153
6. Exercises Paraphrase

• 1) He imagined that the machine could record
  informal communication between departments in a
  company but other people thought it could be used
  to record music.
• Or Edison applied the machine to business
  while others to a different thing,
  musicentertainment.

154

• 2) Since large sums of money have been spent on
  an idea which is mainly in the planning stage,
  since great hopes have been put on such idea,
  there certainly is a lot of exaggerated
  publicity.
• 3) For example, you film a video which you think
  has special artistic pretensions or quality.

155

• 4) but even for those who firmly believe in this,
  it is difficult to work out the details of how it
  will actually function
• 5) another electronic library which has a large
  number of video tapes recording the actual
  shootings and killings seen in video game

156

• 6) just one step ahead of passive watching, just
  like the type of a person who spends most of his
  time on a couch watching TV
• 7) ordering film to be paid for seeing and doing
  shopping at home with credit cards so frequently
  that the bills accumulate

157

• 8) Future programs may be the technological
  descendants of todays CD-ROM discs.
• 9) Interactivity for the time being may be the
  most used word which has little meaning but
  sounds impressive to outsiders while
  convergence follows interactivity closely in
  second place in frequency.

158

• 10) At present, politicians starting from
  President Clinton all the way down to lower-level
  officials are eager and willing to state that
  they are for the new medium.
• 11) The solution is to use fiber optics.
• 12) Digits are digits.

159

Thank you!