CommunicationsRevolution

Cyberspace,datasuperhighway,multi-media一forthose who have seen the future,the linking of computers

television andtelephones will change our lives forever. Yet for all the talk of a forthcomingtechnological

utopia littleattention has been given to the implications of these developments for thepoor. As with all new

hightechnology,while the West concerns itself with the"how",the questionof"for whom"is put aside

once again.

Economists are onlynow realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution hasaffected the

worldeconomy.Information technology allows the extension of trade acrossgeographical and industrial

boundaries,andtransnational corporations take full advantage of it.Terms of trade,exchangeand interest

rates and moneymovements are more important than the production of goods.The electroniceconomy made

possible byinformation technology allows the haves to increase their control on globalmarkets一with destruc-

tive impact on thehave-nots.

For them the resultis instahiTity.Dcveioping countries which rely on the production of a smallrange of

goods for export aremade to feel like small parts in the international economicmachine.As"futures"are

traded on computerscreens,developing countries simply have less and less control of theirdestinies.

So what are theoptions for regaining control?One alternative is for developing countries tobuy in the

latest comnputersarid telecommunications themselves一so-called"development communications"moderniza-

tiori. Yet thisleads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing

countries'economies.

Communicationstechnology is generally exported from the U.S.,Europeor Japan;thepatents,skills

and ability tomanufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries.It is alsoexpensive,and im-

ported products andservoces must therefore be bought on credit一credit usually provided by the very coun-

tries vhosecompanies stand to gain.

Furthermore,when newtechnology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploitit

for nativedevelopment.This means that while local elites,foreign communities andsubsidiaries of transna-

tional corporationsmay benefit,those whose lives depend on access to the information are denied byit.

The author'sattitude toward the communications revolution is_________.

A.tolerant

B.indifferent

C.positive

D.critical