The conference was given extensive coverage by Cynthia Lee and Linda Steiner Lee over two issues of
UCLA TODAY (January 13 and 27, 1994). In the article "Gore Details Telecommunications Ideas," Lee and Lee gave an overview of the opening speech given by Vice President Gore. They commented that "Vice President
Al Gore outlined the
Clinton Administration's proposals to reform the communications marketplace and challenged his audience to provide links from the so-called
information superhighway to every classroom, library, hospital, and clinic in the country by the year 2000 [...] 'We have a dream for...an
information superhighway that can save lives, create jobs and give every American, young and old, the chance for the best education available to anyone, anywhere,' Gore said." During his talk, "Ernestine" (the fictional telephone operator created by
Lily Tomlin for ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'') made a surprise appearance. She complained "about the confusing and rapid transformation of communications technology. The Vice president laughingly assured Ernestine that the new technology would be simple to understand and available to all Americans." Geoffrey Cowan, the former co-director of UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, indicated that the key concept of the Information Superhighway was
interactivity, or "the ability for the consumer to control it, to decide what they want to receive, and the ability of the technology to respond to highly sophisticated consumer demands." The participants underscored the point that the major challenge of the information superhighway would lie in access, or the "gap between those who will have access to it because they can afford to equip themselves with the latest electronic devices and those who can't." ==See also==