perm filename NSFX.3[ESS,JMC]1 blob sn#024463 filedate 1973-02-13 generic text, type T, neo UTF8
00100	AN INITIAL SET OF HOME TERMINAL APPLICATIONS
00200	
00300		We won't get all books and newspapers published  as  computer
00400	files  or get all car dealers to advertise their chariots through the
00500	public information utility until there are enough home  terminals  to
00600	make  a market, and the home terminal won't reach its full usefulness
00700	until these facilities are available.  In fact, it is non-trivial  to
00800	devise  a  set  of applications that can be done now useful enough to
00900	justify anyone but a programmer tolerating a terminal  in  his  house
01000	let  alone  paying  for  it.  Nevertheless, we think we have a set of
01100	home terminal applications large enough to make a viable  system  and
01200	we hope to think of more.  It wasn't easy, but here they are:
01300	
01400		1.  First of all, Martin Frost, one of our graduate students,
01500	has already programmed a news service based on the  Associated  Press
01600	national and international news wire and put it into our time-sharing
01700	system.  The AP wire is connected to the computer,  and  the  stories
01800	are  classified  and filed on the disk as they come in.   The present
01900	classification is according to the presence of  several  hundred  key
02000	words  in  the stories - e.g. the names of countries, states, cities,
02100	prominent people, and various topics.  A user of the system  gives  a
02200	Boolean combination of key words (e.g. Nixon - Vietnam) and  is  told
02300	how many stories there are corresponding to this expression (e.g.  he
02400	may be told there are 11 stories containing the word  Nixon  and  not
02500	the  word  Vietnam).   He  can  then see the first few lines of these
02600	stories and select which ones he wishes to read in full.  The program
02700	has  been  available  since  August  and is used about 1000 times per
02800	month, about half of the use is from our laboratory  and  about  half
02900	over  the  ARPA network.  With publicity, it would be more used which
03000	would not be to our advantage.
03100	
03200		This preliminary experiment is the only one we  have  already
03300	done. We propose to improve it in various ways, and here are some of
03400	the  possibilities:  add  more  news, keep more than one day's worth,
03500	allow a keyword like "animal" to get  all  stories  mentioning  dogs,
03600	cats, etc., give the system some sophisticated question answering and
03700	information retrieval capability, and see what can be done by a human
03800	editor  aided by the computer in producing a more useful computerized
03900	"newspaper".  To tell  the  truth,  the  program  has  been  so  well
04000	accepted  in  its initial crude form that making it sophisticated may
04100	merely gild the lily, but we shall see.
04200	
04300	
04400		2.  The  second  application  is  simply reading.  Initially,
04500	there won't be  much  entertaining  or  educational  reading  in  the
04600	system,  but  we can put some in for the purpose.  It is necessary to
04700	determine what aids such as "subroutine jumps"  to  cross  references
04800	will  be helpful and how the advantages of such computer aids compare
04900	with the advantages of hard copy.  We do not forsee a good individual
05000	hard copy device during the research period proposed here.
05100	
05200		3.  A  local information system updated by a clerk.  In this,
05300	it is not obvious how to compete with the local newspaper,  but  very
05400	likely there is enough information not kept in newspapers to be worth
05500	having one full time clerk putting it in.  If there is, we'll  employ
05600	the clerk.
05700	
05800		4.    Connection    to    institutional   computer   systems.
05900	Possibilities  are  airline  reservation  systems,   ticket   booking
06000	systems,  and  the  University's administrative computer system.  The
06100	idea is to make interfaces that are uniform to the home terminal user
06200	and  give  him  the  facilities  that  the proprietor of the computer
06300	system is willing for individuals to have.  A way of having the  user
06400	identify  himself may be necessary.  It may be possible to get at one
06500	blow access to systems  residing  in  a  local  time-sharing  service
06600	bureau.    In   general,   we   will  explore  the  possibilities  of
06700	co-operating with them and perhaps having them take over the services
06800	when this is reasonable.
06900	
07000		Another  possibility  in  this direction arises in connection
07100	with the fact that financial  institutions  are  studying  electronic
07200	transfer  of  funds.   We  would  like  to  consider this question in
07300	connection with the home terminal and see how this facility might  be
07400	integrated into the larger set of services that a home terminal might
07500	provide.  We suspect that the financial institutions might  have  too
07600	specialized  interests  to  do  this  right  and  might  welcome some
07700	interaction.
07800	
07900		5.  CAI.   We  propose  to   make   this   an   exercise   in
08000	transplantation.    The    idea    is    not    to   make   our   own
08100	computer-aided-instruction system but rather  solve  the  problem  of
08200	transplanting an already developed system to our machine.
08300	
08400		6. Desk calculation with extensions.  This is straightforward
08500	and of limited usefulness to most people, but we'll do it.
08600	
08700		7. A discussion system based on the articles in  a  magazine.
08800	This would require having a number of users interested in reacting in
08900	writing to discussion on a topic.  It may or may not be feasible.
09000	
09100		8.  Other  applications  that  have  been  suggested  include
09200	finding the best route for driving to an address, some amusements and
09300	games, and some kind of clothing design system.  We don't promise  to
09400	do all those mentioned and will undoubtedly do some not mentioned.
09500	
09600		It  is not clear how difficult it is to do these applications
09700	or how long it will  take  to  get  people  to  take  a  professional
09800	interest in them.