PCs, the Internet, and you

Reflects on where the PC industry is going. For the last two decades private firms have developed PC businesses relatively unimpeded by the government. For all intents and purposes, the PC suffered almost no government regulation-with the possible exception of the recent Microsoft antitrust trial. It seems unlikely that this freedom will continue much longer, particularly as the PC begins to embody more communications capabilities in one form or another. That is, because communications industries in the United States have been subject to government regulation for almost one hundred years, this history will tempt politicians to meddle in the PC industry as they have in other communications markets. I'm not sure I like this future, but it appears unavoidable. The future of the PC is tied to the future of the Internet, a future that, in turn, is tied to whether the Internet is regulated like all past communications industries. This raises concerns that soon somebody will try to eliminate the asymmetric treatment of different access modes, promote common carrier regulation over the Internet, and apply principles of universal service to the Internet. We have quite a future in front of us.