Sweeping changes will soon be seen in the way television programs are produced, in the way they are distributed, and in the way they are consumed. Recent and impending technological advances in several fields will converge on the medium and will reshape it. This monograph discusses some of those advances and explains why they are likely to change the way television productions are made and consumed.

The differences between today's television medium and that of tomorrow will be so broad and so extensive that tomorrow's medium will be essentially a new medium. Those involved in the new medium will have available an array of tools and features that are not available to those producing or consuming today's TV products. One of the basic tools that will come into use is a new kind of television viewing system. Today's television sets are one-way presentation devices designed for passive users. Tomorrow's sets will be sophisticated two-way (or multiple-way) communication and computing devices that will provide video and audio output, but will have a host of other capabilities as well. These capabilities are outlined later in this paper and are described in greater detail in several other papers and in an interactive movie in this website (see the list of hyperlinks at the end of this monograph).

There will be two basic kinds of television sets: big ones and little ones. The big ones will be designed for group use and the little ones for individual use. Because of their large size, high cost, and high power requirements, most homes, classrooms, and offices will have only one of the big ones. But the small sets will be highly portable, will have very low power requirements, and will be relatively inexpensive, so most individuals will own one - or at least have access to one. Descriptions and illustrations of how the large and small sets will be used in combination in homes are included in "The Home of Tomorrow."

Tomorrow's small TV set will perform a variety of functions not performed by today's sets. The small set will perform most of the functions now performed by personal computer input and output devices (except printing on paper). The small set will serve as pencil and paper. The small set will function as a telephone and videophone. The small set will respond to voice commands. The small set will function as an audio recorder, a dictating and transcribing machine, and a Fax machine. The small set will function as a concert hall and 3D movie theatre. The small set will function as an electronic reading machine and will receive and present most of the books, magazines, and newspapers that the user will consume.

The Mudoc Corporation is now designing the telereader terminal, a small set that will perform the functions recited above. The telereader is a new human/computer interface system designed primarily to facilitate the production and use of mudocs, multimedia presentations with text set in interactive movable type. Interactive movable type is a learning and working tool that enables each user to optimize his or her verbal skills and abilities, however extensive or limited those skills and abilities may be, when reading, when learning to read, and when translating text from one language to another. Interactive movable type and the other tools of the mudoc technology are depicted in the interactive movie, The Coming Revolution in Writing and Reading (which will soon be available on this website).

The software used to compose, set, store, manipulate, and present interactive movable type can he used with existing computers and terminals. And, initially, it will be. But the telereader terminal will increase the software's effectiveness and will reduce the costs of producing and consuming publications set in interactive movable type. When such publications, software, and related tools become widely available, most reading will be done with telereaders or equivalent display devices.

For many people the primary use of telereaders will be for reading. Others will use the telereader primarily for viewing television programs and movies. But, as television and movies evolve from analog to digital media, the distinction between reading and televiewing will decline. "How Tomorrow's Movies Will Differ," elsewhere in this website, discusses the melding of books and movies. More and more movies will be incorporated into tomorrow's electronic books - and movies will come to be delivered in more and more text-rich environments. When television and movie media have evolved to a point where they are largely digital technologies, most movies and television productions will be consumed through input/output devices like the telereader.

The audio, video, and information handling capabilities of the telereader will make it a marvelous telephone. Only a small minority of the world's population will ever own today's kinds of telephones. But, within a decade or two, virtually everyone will own or have access to telereaders or equivalent interface devices. When this happens, most phoning and faxing will be done with such devices, devices that can really "reach out and touch someone."

In short, most of the traveling that individuals do on tomorrow's information superhighway will be done with vehicles like the telereader. The introduction of these new transportation vehicles will greatly accelerate the growth and use of that highway and of the Internet. The power and ubiquity of the new tools will bring the communications age into full bloom and will provide everyone with an opportunity to share more fully in the wealth of knowledge and information being produced around the world.

For descriptions of the physical characteristics and capabilities of the telereader, consult the following elements of this website:

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