emember all that late-1980s talk about the Information Superhighway? You

Rlearned you’d get 500 cable channels, not just 50 (or, as comedians put it, 500

terrible channels instead of 50 terrible channels). Like most predictions involving

technology, this one was way off the mark. (Add this one to the growing catalog of

predictions gone awry, such as the famed remark by a 1950s IBM executive that the

world would need, at most, a dozen or so computers.) The Information Superhighway

didn’t happen at the TV; instead, it happened at the personal computer, connected to

the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Bryan Pfaffenbergeris the author of more than 75 books on computers and the

Internet, including the best-selling Discover the Internet,from IDG Books Worldwide.

He teaches advanced professional communication and the sociology of computing

in the University of Virginia’s Division of Technology, Culture, and Communication.

Bryan lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his family and an extremely spoiled cat.

In addition to writing several computer books, Bill Karowhas served as a contribu-

tor or technical editor on more than 30 other books. Formerly in charge of systems

development for Walt Disney Entertainment, Bill now serves as a computer consul-

tant in the Orlando area when he’s not out riding his bicycle. He also has the dis-

tinction of having stood atop many of the buildings at Walt Disney World, fanfare

trumpet in hand (with their permission, of course).