Better than being there: next millennium networks

At the culmination of the 20th Century, people in universities and research laboratories have achieved networks of sufficient bandwidth to effectively eliminate the need to physically ship documents, images, and videotapes. Will the next millennium bring us networks that deliver services so efficiently and expediently that we can claim they are, for us, better than being there? As professionals in computer graphics and applications, it is critical that we obtain the quality of image, sound, and interaction over distance that we can enjoy locally.