TELDOK Report 94E: IT Myths—Foreword

IT Myths: TELDOK’s Foreword What do chaos and the Swedish King Oscar the Second have in common? And what do long-haired Merovingians have in common with optical fibres? Or Les Miserables with factory robots and the pink pages of the Minitel? And what do all of these have to do with myths? All this—and more!—will become evident in this report (TELDOK Report 94E: IT Myths) which is a literary and entertaining expose that aims to destroy, or at least critically examine, fifteen myths about tele-connected information systems and the new information society. Such as the paperless society in which everyone is well-informed and no-one needs to physically transport themselves to an office in order to work. Bengt-Arne Vedin, the author of the report, is, as you will discover, sceptical to the notion that all his fellow citizens and colleagues should now have entered into an information and knowledge-based society. Technological means do exist, but not for every purpose; and technological solutions are used in given situations. For example, even a teleworker must at times meet flesh and blood people, as real meetings are integral to the contact structure in the managing of projects in real time and space. And then there is the matter of being ”always reachable” with a *23*3*1200#, another myth that Bengt-Arne Vedin elegantly exposes for public scrutiny to TELDOK’s (now more than 5,000) readers. Throughout its fifteen-year existence, the ambition of TELDOK has been to attempt to document ”how things are”—in reality, in practice, and in a timely and readable manner. That has led to TELDOK poking holes in false notions, prejudices, false stories, propaganda exercises, and advertising exaggerations, along the way. In this case, however, the main purpose is just that, to poke holes in the myths. We would like to thank Bengt-Arne Vedin, who really is a member of the information society compared to those of us who are still on the periphery, for having so consistently and competently carried through an idea that for so long has been stumblingly close to what TELDOK has stood for. Back to the Table of Contents for Report 94E: IT Myths fab.se/"> http://www.teldok.framfab.se/ teldok@ett.se TELDOK, Telia Research AB, Affärsanalys, D241, S-123 86 FARSTA Sidan senast uppdaterad 15 november 1996 av PG Holmlöv (pg.x.holmlov@telia.se), 08 713 5129.