Our world is in the midst of change. Korea and America are now neighbors in a global village where the main street can be called the “information highway”. Any Korean citizen or any American citizen can have unfettered access to global news and information with only the click of a mouse and access to the internet. This brave new world of the internet can be counted as the “third wave” of computers.
The first wave of computers started after World War II with the advent of the first electronic computer, the ENIAC. Early computers were room size and operated with thousands of vacuum tubes. IBM dominated this world. The first wave involved “many users and one computer”.
The second wave of computers began with the advent of personal computers in the 1970s. Bill Gates with Microsoft strove to place a computer in every home and Steve Jobs tried to place an Apple computer in every classroom. Computers came within the reach of the average person. This second wave involved “one computer and one user”.
The third wave of computing began with the 1990s and the World Wide Web. We are now in a word of “Netscape”, “HTTP”, “America On Line” and “home page”. This third wave of computing involves “many computers and one user”. As you sit in front of your Personal Computer you can have immediate access to millions of computers all over the world. Do you want local news from your home town in Pusan? Then travel there with your finger tips. Do want to listen to Seoul radio? Then open your ears.
The world is getting smaller. Can you see it? We are all getting closer together. Can you feel it?
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25. Climbing stairs to nowhere
23. Three hours
