Goodbye Gutenberg
Presented by Anthony Smith
In Japan the development of a voice-controlled word processor will revolutionise their offices. in Sweden ' text inspectors' have to check on any illegal entries on computer files. In the USA the way information is filtered to the President in the White House is radically changing. In Britain Prestel can supply all kinds of information into our homes and offices.
All these form part of an' information revolution ' as dramatic in its effect as Gutenberg's printing press in medieval society. As more and more words fly free of the printed page and are processed and stored in computers, this film looks at existing examples of the new information technology and its effect on democracy, national boundaries, language, bureaucracy and privacy.
ANTHONY SMITH examines some of the more far-reaching and subtle effects of the new information age. He asks: Can we foresee any of the cultural changes that lie ahead, and can we know what the haze of electronic pulses I will do to our way of life?'
Produced by EDWARD GOLDWYN
Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES < Peter Brookes ' View: page 85