Growth With No End in Sight
The Internet distributes information on a scale unprecedented in history-- except, of course, by television. As large as the Internet seems now, with some 50 million people connected, today's online population is a mere frontier outpost compared to the Internet civilization of the near future. Currently doubling every 10 months, the number of people using the Internet will reach one billion worldwide by the year 2000--by conservative estimates.

The Internet is a "unicast" medium, with an infinity of channels that the user can access at any time in a highly personalized, customized form. By the same token, however, the Internet puts the burden of "activity" on the user, and it requires a computer, which is unavailable or hard to use (or both) to many consumers.

Open to All Content
Such rapid growth is possible because, like television, the Internet rests on an established and open infrastructure, with a universal communications standard (TCP/IP), content creation system (HTML), and transmission standard (HTTP). The infrastructure is non-proprietary, or open, and supports several forms of information: print, audio, video, and multimedia. That's why the breadth of information available on the Internet goes far beyond anything television can offer. With its open architecture, the Internet puts no limit on the number of content providers or the volume of content they can make available. To apply a TV metaphor, the Internet offers an infinity of channels, and everyone can be a content provider--but not a broadcaster, because the Internet is not a broadcast medium.

The Role of the User: More Than Just Viewing
On the Internet, all content is available at all times, but the medium itself is passive. The user plays the active role, selecting the content he or she wants either by navigating directly to it in real time or by establishing preferences that enable providers to "unicast"--in Internet parlance, the verb used is "push"--customized content at scheduled intervals.

The Internet's greatest strength is that its limitless content can be customized for each person--personalized, both literally and figuratively. But the process--the very act of consuming Internet content--puts the burden of activity on the user. And, from a consumer, mass market point of view, it's no small burden, because using the Internet requires a computer, and computers are neither as ubiquitous nor anywhere near as easy to use as TVs.

Combining the best of both worlds--merging broadcast and unicast, mass content with personalized content, viewer with user--will require a new model of television and Internet technology, programming, and services.