I was indeed on that sub-committee and was at the time rummaging in the same social impact and futures sand box as the Institute for the Future but of course without either the funding or the NYT as a megaphone... (As a curious aside, a couple of years ago I got a somewhat mysterious call from someone who initially didn't want to identify themselves asking whether I had had any involvement with Telidon in the 1980's. After the conversation went on for a bit and I had established bonafides in the area the person identified themselves as an attorney from San Francisco involved in an Intellectual Property case and asking if I had any minutes of any meetings which took place in March of 1982 (I'm recalling the dates but I believe it was those) between DoC, Nortel and others discussing the software (graphics display) protocol which underlay the Canadian videotex systems, Telidon. It seems that also at that meeting were representatives of AT&T who subsequently went on to patent that protocol. The attorney was looking for evidence of "prior use" i.e. that the protocol in fact was operational prior to AT&T learning of/developing it and they were looking for the minutes of a particular meeting or meetings where DoC scientists might have made a presentation of this with AT&T present (evidently for whatever reason DoC/CRC scientists hadn't bothered to patent their results. What I gathered from the attorney was that this bit of code had over time migrated to becoming at the core of the graphic display on the web and someone somewhere was challenging AT&T's lock on this and if we could find the right set of minutes we could live comfortably on the proceeds for the rest of our lives. To make a long story short (after referring him to various people who would more likely have these in their archives than us) I tore my own paper storage facility apart (putting some needed order in in the process) discovered some stuff but evidently not what they were looking for and I never heard from them again. M
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2011 8:40 AM To: [email protected] Cc: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: RE: [Ottawadissenters] What will they think of next? I was a member of the Canadian Videotex Consultative Committee set up by the then Dept of Communications. I argued against the top down model offered by videotext and suggested that an interactive citizen to citizen model is more appropriate. I was at the Science Council at the time and the govt people on the committee looked at me as an outsider and someone who didn't understand the technology. Telidon was the "brainchild" of Bernard Ostry then DM at DOC and Doug Parkhill then ADM at DOC and both championed it through govt. Well along came the internet and pcs and google and here we are. BTW I am quite sure that Mike G. was a member of the sub-committee on the social implications of Telidon. Arthur -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <mailto:Ottawadissenters%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Ottawadissenters%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of David M Delaney Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 11:51 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:Ottawadissenters%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [Ottawadissenters] What will they think of next? On 11-06-24 11:27 PM, michael gurstein wrote: > http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/14/us/study-says-technology-could-transform-s ociety.html Cool! In 1982, I was working in "Videotex" in Bell-Northern-Research. I remember reading this article, nodding my head and saying, "of course", agreeing with the implications it hypothesized, feeling validated by it. I was participating in building the new "digital economy", the next "phase transition" of humanity. But how callow was I to be so impressed by myself, my work, and its implications. I was a big fan then of Star Trek, too. I still cannot resist the Culture novels of Ian M Banks. Shame! At least I know thoroughly that they are fantasy and no model for our future. ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links __._,_.___ Reply <mailto:[email protected]?subject=RE%3A%20%5BOttawadissenters%5D%20What% 20will%20they%20think%20of%20next%3F> to sender | Reply <mailto:[email protected]?subject=RE%3A%20%5BOttawadissenters %5D%20What%20will%20they%20think%20of%20next%3F> to group | Reply <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ottawadissenters/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJyOGg2N2EyBF 9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1MjA5MDU5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA4MzUxMgRtc2dJZAMxNTIxMA RzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzEzMDkwMTY0MzE-?act=reply&messageNum=15210> via web post | Start <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ottawadissenters/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZHVraGNzBF 9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1MjA5MDU5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA4MzUxMgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsaw NudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzMDkwMTY0MzE-> a New Topic Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ottawadissenters/message/15202;_ylc=X3oDMTM3Y 2g5Zmw1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1MjA5MDU5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA4MzUxMgRtc2dJZ AMxNTIxMARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzMDkwMTY0MzEEdHBjSWQDMTUyMDI-> in this topic (4) Recent Activity: Visit <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ottawadissenters;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZnB1dDM5BF9TAzk 3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1MjA5MDU5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA4MzUxMgRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2h wBHN0aW1lAzEzMDkwMTY0MzE-> Your Group <http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbzllYWoyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1M jA5MDU5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA4MzUxMgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTMwOTAxNjQzM Q--> Yahoo! Groups Switch to: Text-Only <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Change Delivery Format: Traditional> , Daily <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Email Delivery: Digest> Digest . Unsubscribe <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> . Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . <http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=15209059/grpspId=1705083512/msgI d=15210/stime=1309016431/nc1=1/nc2=2/nc3=3> __,_._,___
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