Part 2 script
SERIES PRODUCERS: NINA ZACUTO AND ALAN KAUL
THIS SEGMENT : NINA ZACUTO
ANCHOR: BRIAN WILLIAMS
PART TWO NOW IN OUR SERIES THIS
WEEK: "ALMOST 2001." NOT TOO LONG
AGO, TELEPHONES AND TELEGRAPHS WERE
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY. THESE
DAYS, THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME:
CAN BE SEEN ON COMPUTER SCREENS -
MILLIONS OF THEM, WHERE NEW KINDS
OF COMMUNITIES ARE BEING BORN.
NBC'S GEORGE LEWIS REPORTS.
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NARRATION: GEORGE LEWIS
CATALFO'S PLAYING PING PONG (NARR) THE CATALFOS OF BERKELEY,
CALIFORNIA, FACED A MAJOR CRISIS THREE
YEARS AGO.
PHIL C. TYPING AT COMPUTER (V.O. PHIL) "I'd like to use this
topic for discussing leukemia, the
disease....
COMPUTER SCREEN both as it affects my family and what
is known about it generally."
GABE PLAYS PING-PONG GABE CATALFO, THEN SEVEN, WAS DIAGONSED
WITH LEUKEMIA.
PHIL LOOKS ON HIS FATHER, PHIL, FRIGHTENED AND
LOOKING FOR ADVICE, DECIDED TO SHARE
HIS FEELINGS WITH SOME PEOPLE HE'D BEEN
PHIL TYPING AT COMPUTER CORRESPONDING WITH OVER A COMPUTER
NETWORK. SOME HE KNEW, MOST HE HAD
NEVER MET.
PHIL ON CAMERA (SOT) "These people gave me a way to
carry on.//And they also gave me, you
know, very specific pieces of advice to
help me deal with it in a very concrete
way."
GABE AGAIN (NARR) WITHIN A FEW WEEKS DOCTORS HAD
GABE'S LEUKEMIA IN REMISSSION. HE'S IN
GOOD HEALTH NOW, BUT THE SHOW OF
SUPPORT FROM HIS FAN CLUB CONTINUES.
MORE THAN ELEVEN HUNDRED ELECTRONIC
MESSAGES POSTED SO FAR.
WELL OFFICES PHIL IS A SUBSCRIBER TO THE WELL - A
PULLBACK FROM SIGN COMPUTER CONFERENCING SYSTEM STARTED IN
1985.
LEWIS AND MATISSE AT THE 8000 SUBSCRIBERS NOW ON THE WELL
COMPUTER SCREEN HAVE FORMED A COMMUNITY OF THEIR OWN.
WELL CONFERENCE ON SCREEN IN WHAT THEY CALL CONFERENCES THEY POST
MESSAGES ON OVER 225 TOPICS.
HOWARD RHEINGOLD (SOT) "I think we're moving into an
AUTHOR "VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES" era where these computer communications
can connect us with people across all
kinds of boundaries in ways that we
were not able to connect before."
GRAPHIC: (NARR) CONNECTING PEOPLE IN NEW WAYS
HAS BECOME A MAJOR BUSINESS IN THIS
SUPER PRODIGY: 2,000,000 COUNTRY. COMMERCIAL SERVICES LIKE
COMPUSERVE: 1,500,000 PRODIGY, COMPUSERVE AND AMERICA ONLINE
AMERICA ONLINE 500,000 WHICH PUMP INFORMATION INTO PEOPLE'S
COMPUTERS THROUGH REGULAR PHONE LINES,
NOW HAVE FOUR MILLION SUBSCRIBERS.
AMERICA ONLINE HDQTERS THE FASTEST GROWING OF THESE SERVICES,
MAINFROME COMPUTER AMERICA ON-LINE, CHARGES NINE NINETY-
FIVE A MONTH, PLUS THREE DOLLARS FIFTY
CENTS AN HOUR AFTER THE FIRST FIVE
HOURS USE.
STEVE CASE IN HIS OFFICE STEVE CASE IS THE PRESIDENT OF AMERICA
ON-LINE.
LEWIS AT COMPUTER I INTERVIEWED HIM VIA COMPUTER FROM THE
NBC BUREAU IN LOS ANGELES...
CASE AT COMPUTER AND HE RESPONDED FROM THE AMERICA
ON-LINE OFFICE IN VIENNA, VIRGINIA.
CASE SPEAKS (SOT) "George asks...what are the most
popular America Online features now?"
GEORGE SPEAKS (SOT) "And Steve responds...the real
focus for us is on promoting
interactivity...getting people to
exchange ideas."
STEVE TYPES (STEVE V.O.) "It makes this medium
more interactive, more participatory...
it comes alive."
CLIFF FIGALLO AT HIS COMPUTER (NARR) BUT COMPUTER USERS CONCEDE THAT
CORRESPONDING ELECTRONICALLY IS NO
SUBSTITUTE FOR FACE-TO-FACE
COMMUNICATIONS. THAT'S WHY THE SAN
GOLDEN GATE POSTCARD SHOT FRANCISCO-BASED WELL HAS MONTHLY
GATHERINGS WHERE MEMBERS GET TOGETHER
WELL PARTY WITH BUCKBERG TO SHARE THEIR INTERESTS AND THE IDEAS
THEY HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING VIA COMPUTER.
BUCKBERG AT THE DOCK RICHARD BUCKBERG IS A WILDLIFE
BIOLOGIST. ONE OF HIS HOBBIES IS
BOATING SO HE SPENDS TIME ON THE WELL'S
BOATING CONFERENCE.
BUCKBERG SPEAKS "We talk about issues relating to the
bay itself. Dredging, the cost of
boating in the bay..."
BYRON WATCHES JIMI ON VHS (NARR) BYRON GORDON IS A JIMI HENDRIX
FAN. HE LIKES TO SWAP AUDIO AND VIDEO
TAPES WITH MEMBERS OF THE WELL'S MUSIC
CONFERENCE.
BYRON SPEAKS "You can't get more immediate than the
exchange of computer information via a
bulletin board.
COFFEEHOUSE/ COIN-OPERATED WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD A
COMPUTER TERMINAL COMPUTER AT HOME? IT'S OKAY. IF YOU
HAVE SOME SPARE CHANGE.
(NAT SOT) "another quarter."
NATASHA PUTS THE QUARTER COIN-OPERATED COMPUTER TERMINALS HAVE
IN COIN SLOT STARTED POPPING UP IN PUBLIC PLACES
LIKE THIS SAN FRANCISCO COFFEE HOUSE.
USERS SEND ELECTRONIC MAIL ALL OVER THE
GLOBE. COST..TWO BITS FOR FOUR MINUTES.
LETTERS MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
AN INSTANT CONNECTION TO THE WHOLE WIDE
WORLD. GEORGE LEWIS, NBC NEWS, SAN
FRANCISCO.
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ANCHOR: BRIAN WILLIAMS
LAST NIGHT WE BROADCAST OUR INTERNET
ADDRESS.. AND WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED
MORE THAN FIFTEEN HUNDRED COMMENTS FROM
VIEWERS ACROSS THE U-S AND AROUND THE
WORLD. HERE'S A SAMPLING:
CARLOS CHAVEZ WRITES: "I GUESS THIS IS
THE BEST EXAMPLE OF YOUR PIECE. HOW
ELSE CAN SOMEONE GET IN TOUCH SO QUICKLY
FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. SALUDOS
FROM MEXICO CITY, MEXICO."