麻豆传媒

Was teletext the forerunner of the internet? Back in the day it seemed quite futuristic. For those who don鈥檛 know, teletext allowed you to see pages of information on your TV. Even if it was just a couple of paragraphs of news or sports results, which it mostly was, you were plugged into what was to become cyberspace. In 1976 this new era had just dawned. announced that although the system was available on only 300 television sets in the UK, decoders to convert older sets would soon be on sale. We seemed rather pleased that they would come in at 鈥渘o more than 拢200鈥�. That鈥檚 closer to 拢1000 today, so you would have been better off waiting for somebody to invent smartphones.

Another socio-technological revolution was afoot in 1988. of 麻豆传媒 reported on a spat between Philips and Discovision Associates over who was due the 3垄 royalty payable on the sale of every music CD. For those who don鈥檛 know, people used to listen to music on a CD player. Tucked away in a paragraph near the end of the story came news of a major cultural shift. The stakes were high, we reported. The 3垄 on each disc represented a potential windfall because 鈥渋n Japan and the US some shops no longer stock vinyl LPs and conventional gramophones鈥�. Those who don鈥檛 know what a vinyl LP is 鈥� probably most readers who aren鈥檛 DJs, audiophiles, retro aficionados or of a certain age 鈥� can Google it.

Then again, perhaps you won鈥檛 find what you鈥檙e looking for. In 2006 we noticed a new cyber-twist: some people didn鈥檛 want to be found anywhere on the internet. In our 6 May issue we quoted an anonymous technocrat saying: 鈥淭he thing now is to be untraceable. Make yourself ungoogleable.鈥� The growing trend even had a name 鈥� Myspacecide 鈥� named after the social networking site. Considering the declining fortunes of Myspace since 2006, it seems more than one person heeded the advice. And for those who don鈥檛 know what Myspace is鈥�