The Royal Society has initiated a series of meetings to discuss the
effect advances in technology will have on our way of life in the next
century. The two previous meetings have been concerned with housing and
waste treat- ment. The subject of the third meeting, communications, is
no less critical to life, but it offers particular problems and
uncertainties, especially in the forecasting of future trends. Indeed,
some have doubted if there can be profitable debate on long-term
development in such a fast-moving field. The importance of the topic
justifies an attempt, and the reader will judge whether the authors have
met the challenge. Communications today bears little resemblance to that
of the 1970s. Then we knew about satellites and optical fibres, and we
had seen lasers and silicon chips, but most of us could never imagine
the potential of the new technologies within our grasp. We had also not
assessed the thirst of the popUlation for more and better ways of
talking and writing to each other. It was the combination of market need
and technical capability that created the com- munications revolution.