Uncle Bill has frequently prophesized a technological utopia where the free market will allow anyone the freedom to control the entire planets communication technology. The distinctions between different communications media; television, radio, the Internet, telephone etc will slowly blur and into one and this one all-embracing medium will give all people the world over true freedom of choice.

Not only will you be free to choose what you watch and when you watch it, but you will also be able to get involved. Interactive media will provide you with the chance to get involved and give content providers the chance to experiment with ulta-advanced marketing techniques.

Imagine what will be possible in 'The Future':
You the viewer (or 'participant', 'controller' whatever) may like the look of the jacket that Jennifer Annactress is wearing. 'The Future' will enable you to simply click on her jacket with whatever pointing device you own and you'll be able to buy it there and then. If you subscribe to 'TheFutureAdultOptions(tm)' you will also be able to see the same actress topless or naked. One more click and you can order a box of tissues and perhaps some pizza.

Other annoyances of the present will also be eradicated. Companies spending large amounts of money on TV comercials needn't worry any longer about people fast-forwarding through them when watching them on VCRs. The future will herald VCRs which will only allow fast-forwarding through the programs and not through the valuable and informative commercials!

Of course, you need not fear that the content will be engineered entirely around selling products because the free market will ensure that this doesnt happen. Like with television today.

Everything in the future will be simpler to use. Every household device will have a user-friendly 'Start' button and will play a comforting sound when you switch it on. Through a simple set of menus, dialog boxes and buttons the ordinary household tasks such as making coffee, switching on lights and washing the dishes will be faster, more productive and Fun!. This does also mean that your coffee machine will need 128MB of RAM and be prone to General Protecion Faults, but there will be a solid telephone (TelInterWebTvNetphone) support service and regular service patches which will be automatically downloaded.

Law and order will be far simpler to manage as the local security services (the Police, the FBI, the KGB, MI5, Federation Against Software Theft etc) will have instant access to all of the services you use, what you watch and who you talk with. Despite this you will have your privacy assured by the use of strong encryption. Also you'll never have to worry about what will happen if you lose your encryption key beacuse the Government, or Controlling Company, will have it escrowed for your peace of mind.

As there will be fewer people leaving their houses in the future, the streets will be safer places. In fact the only people on the streets will be those who, due to mental illness, do not appreciate the new communications media. Just phone the Police !