ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290120
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
Some of the biggest names in the computer industry and participants from 37 countries gathered Tuesday at Harvard University for a star-studded conference aimed at untangling the web of the Internet.
But while nearly a thousand people are paying just under $1,000 to hear Microsoft Corp. CEO Bill Gates provide a window on the digital future today, opening day produced many more questions than answers - highlighting just how nebulous the future of the global computer network really is, even to the people on its cutting edge.
``But with that sense of unpredictability comes a sense of exhilaration: an awareness that there are large, complicated, and intensely interesting questions looming before us,'' admitted Harvard president Neil L. Rudenstine in opening remarks at the four-day conference.
There was consensus that the Internet will only increase in importance as it grows more sophisticated and more interactive. But there was a dearth of concrete information about how the Internet might evolve.
``We are all hopelessly, hopelessly behind adopting this technology,'' said one participant.
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB