Computer Networks Computers by themselves are useful tools. But once they are interconnected, they surge in usefulness and suddenly become media. One computer is connected into a network which is then patched into a network of networks. Computer networks have the potential to break the monopolies of media institutions. With networks, there is a shift from centralized, one-way media to dispersed, infinite-way communication. Every audience member in the world can at the same time be …showed first 75 words of 1434 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1434 total…forum. Computer networks, assuming a free, public one exists in the future (if nothing happens to the Internet), may not be the be-all and end-all that media hype may indicate, but they are surely revolutionary tools that will change the ways we access information and perceive the world around us. Commercial interests will be overwhelming as we are bombarded by information. But useful, interesting will still be accessible - the problem will be locating it.