 / 115 Glossary of Terms / 119 Index / 129 THE MEDIUM AND THE MARKET- AN OVERVIEW 1.1 A TELECOMMUNICATIONS OVERVIEW The many uses of telecommunications will change work patterns, leisure time, education, health care and industry. Communications satellites will generate their own energy from sunlight in space. New optical-fiber cables and semiconductor lasers will work with them to replace copper wire. Such satellites and fibers could transmit all the information the human race could possibly use. Whatever the limits to growth in other fields, there are no limits near in telecommunications and electronic technology. Imagine a home ten or twenty years in the future, with television sets which can pick up international channels, and also be used in conjunction with small keyboards to provide a multitude of com- munication services. The home has cabling under the streets and new forms of radio provide all manner of communication facilities. Restaurants and stores all accept bank cards, which are read by machines that automatically transfer funds between bank accounts by telecommunications. Citizens can wear radio devices for auto- matically calling police or ambulances if they wish. Homes have bur- glar and fire alarms connected to the police and fire stations. To avoid unemployment, long weekends have become normal and are demanded by the labor unions. Paperwork is largely avoided by having computers send orders and invoices directly to other com- puters and by making most financial settlements, including salary 2 TELECOMMUNICATIONS payments, by automatic transmission of funds into appropriate bank accounts. What was once called the office-of-the-future has become as conventional as vending machines, and with plasma screens in briefcase lids, people take their office-of-the-future home with them. 1.1.1 Smart Telecom Banking Card Systems Microchips are being placed in plastic cards that we carry in wallets, purses, and shirt pockets. "Smart" cards (cards containing micro- chips that can compute as well as hold data) 