Telecommunications, Cable Networks, and Competition in the Free Market

Sponsored by:

Telepresence and Holography / Holograms - November 2008

Editor’s viewpoint on their differences, likenesses and future...

We all just recently viewed an historic CNN holographic interview on an historic Election Night. CNN stated this type of imaging has never been done before on National TV and I believe that. I haven’t seen anything like it. The live interview caught me by surprise and sure had the “wow” factor attached to it didn’t it? Here’s a link to the actual interview.

CNN Hologram Video

The question now has to be asked. Is it Telepresence?

I’m no expert on the subject but I’m going to throw my hat into the ring, go out on a limb and say yes, I believe it is. Although I know many video conferencing purists are rolling their eyes and grabbing their guns right about now with my statement.

While I do know that Telepresence still hasn’t been universally defined (Houston, we have a problem), here’s how I see it…. Broken down to its simplest form - “tele” (through electronic means) and “presence” (present). This is how I’m justifying my opinion by lumping holography and Telepresence together. Just as Telepresence is surely an offshoot of video conferencing, holographic imaging (like we viewed on CNN) surely has to be considered an offshoot of Telepresence. The interviewer was “telepresent” from Chicago and beamed into the CNN Election Headquarters. She was most assuredly - “telepresent”. There was negligible latency, the imaging was fantastic and both interviewers were rehearsed on what they would say. I’ve just recently read that CNN actually “downgraded” the experience to make it “movie” quality and not as good as it could have been. Maybe they thought us mere mortals would be shocked if they showed their complete hand. I have a feeling it was so big to them, they didn’t want it to get upstaged by the historic election. I’m willing to bet we’ll see the “true” power of this technology in the upcoming weeks and months when they can put the pedal to the medal and show it off without having it sidetracked.

What an amazing time for this technology (all differences and opinions aside). Telepresence Doctors, nurses, teachers, schools and healthcare (healthpresence) will benefit from the recent gains in this state-of-the-art industry whether holograms, Telepresence or holography. Airlines also have to see the threat to a portion of their business travel. Hell, who wants go through security and fly to Miami for a two-hour conference when you can look them in the eye via Telepresence?

Beam me up Scotty! Simply amazing…!

Visit the free Telepresence Forum for more information and discussion

Your Editor and Administrator - L II
"Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" TM

The value of Social Security should be determined by its effectiveness as a social insurance program, combining elements of both individual equity and social adequacy.

Because benefits are related to a worker's lifetime earnings, individual equity is an intrinsic part of the Social Security concept.

But to understand and evaluate the program, we have to remember that certain features of Social Security are geared toward meeting broad-based social needs rather than simply whether or not an individual is getting a good return on the dollar.

For example, the basic benefit formula is designed, and always has been, to replace a higher proportion of earnings for low earners than for high earners.

Also, there is another part of the social adequacy aspect of Social Security. Dependents' and survivors' benefits are paid to workers with families.

Because the program strikes a balance between the goals of individual equity and social adequacy, I believe we must judge Social Security's value by how well it performs as an entire package of social insurance protection.

The value of benefits for any given worker depends on his or her individual circumstances, whether that worker has high earnings or low earnings, whether that worker is married or has children, whether that worker becomes disabled, dies prematurely, or receives benefits far into old age.

Some people can expect to get back more than they put into Social Security, some to break even, and some to get less.

The value of these programs cannot be overestimated. For example, over 40 percent of male workers and nearly 30 percent of female workers will become disabled or die before they reach retirement age.

They may not get their money's worth if you only look at whether they get their contributions back and do not consider the program's other aspects.

So Social Security disability and survivors' benefits assure workers that they and their families will not become destitute. And when we assess the value of Social Security, we have to take that into consideration.

Social Security is an integral part of American life. Virtually the entire labor force pays Social Security taxes.

And people count on Social Security to be there for them when they retire. And they count on Social Security to be there for their families should they become disabled or die.

The American people have a right and a need to know that Social Security is still a valuable program.

Sammy Beanard has researched and written about the telecommunications business and other issues.

To see more of his writing, visit his articles about free reverse phone directory searches and public criminal records sites.

Custom Search

To learn more about Telepresence, the revolutionary new style of immersive video conferencing; visit these websites:

Telepresence - "Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" - Telepresence
Telepresence Web Portal - Telepresence Internet web portal
Telepresence Report - 24/7 breaking Telepresence related news and information
Via Telepresence - Video conferencing via Telepresence
Telepresence Forum - Free user discussion forum for everything Telepresence related
Telepresence Today - Telepresence information and editor qualified headline news
Telepresence Resource Directory - Telepresence web resource directory
Telepresence Tube - Telepresence videos, pictures and more