Information revolution has practical applications

Regional telephone companies like Bell Atlantic are getting into the entertainment business. Cable giant Time Warner Inc. is getting into the telephone business. Apple's hand-held Newton computer can send wireless communications, like a cellular phone.

Each is a good example of convergence among what I call the Iced-Tea Industries: Information, Cable TV, Electronics, Digital (including computers and software), Telephony, Edutainment (the convergence of technique and technology in two giant industries, education and entertainment) and other applications.

The practical importance of the Iced-Tea Industries is dramatically evident in transportation. Take just one example: The increasing use of "Just-in-time" (JIT) delivery.

JIT is a communications-intensive practice that permits retail, manufacturing and other U.S. industries to eliminate warehousing and other forms of intermediate storage for the production and distribution of goods. Reason: Shippers now have the ability to track domestic and cross-border shipments in real time. But there are larger impacts:

• By using JIT, American industry has become more productive and more competitive.
  
• Because U.S. railroads are world leaders in adopting JIT practices and new communications technologies, they are regaining market share in long-haul shipments from trucks. That's good news for the environment, highway safety and public sector budgets, which support highway construction and maintenance.
  
• New electronics and communications technologies permit "non-invasive" container inspection -- especially to search for drugs, arms or other contraband hidden in legitimate shipments. This saves money, increases security and speeds the movement of freight across borders.
  
• Communications-based tracking technologies, not unlike those used by Federal Express to monitor the whereabouts of an express mail package, are now used to track and monitor shipments of hazardous cargos, increasing the safety and security of people and communities along side major thoroughfares.
  
• Trucking fleets use advanced communications technologies to improve driver and cargo security. Example: Satellite-based packages allow managers to remotely activate an engine shutdown, brakes, door locks, alarms and other anti-hijacking measures.
  
• Fleet managers use advanced communications technologies for trouble-shooting -- e.g., to monitor a truck engine and even adjust it while it is operating, often without the the knowledge or intervention of the driver.
  
• New technologies permit the management and routing of more diverse cargos, which mean that trucks and trains, working together, can increasingly move product into remote or poorly served areas. This is more good news for rural America, where new technologies of transportation and telecommunications are providing a new lease on life.
  

So, the convergence of the Iced-Tea Industries has practical and substantial benefits. These changes, unless they are sidetracked by ill-considered government regulation, will dramatically improve American productivity and competitiveness and profoundly change the way we live, work, play, learn and move around.