Jenny Preece & Ben ShneidermanCollege of Information Studies

University of Maryland

A tribute to Roxanne & Murray based on “The Network Nation”

Computerized conferences

“… will eventually be as omnipresent as the telephone and as revolutionary, in terms of facilitating the growth and emergence of vast networks of geographically dispersed persons who are able to work and communicate with one another at no greater cost than if they were located a few blocks from on another” (p. xx1)

Under $8 per hour

“Whether or not such efficiencies and the resulting potential benefits to society and the public will be realized is more likely to be a function of policy and regulatory decisions than of technological capability” (p. xxii)

What they predicted and what actually happened

• Pages xxv & xxvi – By the mid-80’s– By the mid-90’s– By 2007

• Accurate balanced visions that took longer than predicted

Almost 15 & 30 years later!

• 1992 NYT reported 20 million Americans used PCs - Age of the personal computer. At that time Roxanne & Murray suggested designing social systems (p.xxix)

• 2007 3 billion+ cell phones across world

The vision lives on …

• You enjoyed writing it because “it is a vision of possible futures, not limited by mundane facts”

• We enjoyed reading because “it is a vision of possible futures, not limited by mundane facts”

• Thank you Roxanne and Murray for an enduring vision that we and future generations build on.