Chapter
Seventeen
Live From WBN
THIS PRELIMINARY TRANSCRIPT IS MADE AVAILABLE BY THE WBN PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the World Broadband Network studios in Phoenix, Arizona, we present a special edition of Technology World with Meagan Fletcher.”
(APPLAUSE)
MEAGAN FLETCHER, WBN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to this special edition of WBN’s TECHNOLOGY WORLD. The subject of tonight’s show is GundTech’s controversial new IHT technology and their IHT International Academy, which is scheduled to go into session in just a few weeks.
I’m joined tonight by a small studio audience. I had a chance to talk with the audience before the show and I discovered that, while it is not a scientific sampling, the audience does represent the full spectrum of viewpoints on this new technology.
GEORGE WILSON, AUDIENCE MEMBER: That’s correct.
FLETCHER: And you’re a deacon in your church.
WILSON: Yes, ma’am. That’s right.
FLETCHER: Tell our viewers what you were saying earlier.
WILSON: I, uh, was just saying that this new technology is very dangerous, particularly for our kids. And I don’t mean just the physical danger, either.
FLETCHER: How so?
WILSON: Pornography. Violent games. Addiction. Stuff like that. We all remember when the Internet became popular back when we were kids. It was overrun with pornographers, child predators, and the like. It was never really brought under control. And the kids nowadays are so darn clever, they can bypass just about any channel-blocker that can be thought up. If the stories you all have told us are true, the IHT’s degree of realism will just bolster their business. Our children will become addicts.
FLETCHER: It looks like you want to respond to Mr. Wilson’s statement. Please state your name.
OWEN RUFF, AUDIENCE MEMBER: Owen Ruff. I’m a high school teacher. GundTech has said flatly that it will monitor all IHT simulations 24/7. This is a company that has one of the highest customer service ratings in history. As I recall, there was also a similar protest when they announced the multiCom Artificial Intelligence technology. None of those fears came to pass. As far as anyone knows, there haven’t been any invasion-of-privacy abuses. It seems to me that GundTech is a socially conscious company and has earned the world’s trust.
FLETCHER: That brings us to this young woman who is a student at Arizona State University. Please introduce yourself.
MISTY SHALIMAR, AUDIENCE MEMBER: I’m Misty Shalimar. I’m a sophomore art student at ASU, and I’m totally against the constant monitoring of IHT programs. That, in itself, is an invasion of privacy. I should be able to do or say what I want, no matter what new technology may come along. It’s my constitutional right to free speech.
FLETCHER: To respond to your statements, please welcome the four GundTech employees who represent the US students who have been accepted into the IHT Academy. Who would like to begin?
DONALD CHITWOOD, GUNDTECH: Donald Chitwood, Ms. Fletcher. I represent Malik Simons, the student from Atlanta. I would like to assure you that GundTech has taken the utmost care in creating the IHT. It would never release a product it considered unsafe in any way. Part of our system of safeguards is the monitoring.
FLETCHER: Miss Shalimar represents a sizeable part of the population that claims your monitoring would be a violation of their rights. In fact, many legal experts agree with them.
DEBBIE WHITE, GUNDTECH: Debbie White, representative for Cameron Rush from Troy, Wisconsin. Anyone who uses an IHT based simulation, whether it is one of the new amusement rides we are working on or a movie studio using IHT sets and effects, will know it is being monitored. It would be an invasion of privacy if users were being watched secretly — if they were being spied upon. However, that is not the case with the IHT. The students and their families know they will be monitored.
FLETCHER: With that in mind, let’s bring out the first two of our special guests — the oldest and youngest of our American students, Malik Simons, age eighteen, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Rebecca Weingold of Bleathard, Oregon. Rebecca is the youngest student accepted by the Academy. We have been informed that she is only eleven but will be the mandatory twelve years of age in just a few days.
(APPLAUSE)
AMY LASSITER, GUNDTECH: Amy Lassiter, Ms. Fletcher. Becky is hearing impaired. She lost her hearing four years ago, due to an illness. I will be signing for her.
FLETCHER: Welcome to you both. Let me start then with you, Rebecca.
REBECCA WEINGOLD: Becky. I like to be called Becky, please.
LASSITER: Becky, as you just heard, can speak quite well for herself. She was not deaf from birth, which had some unexpected results. (SIGNING TO WEINGOLD) Tell Ms. Fletcher about your interview.
WEINGOLD: The interview?
Yes! They found out I was deaf when Mr. Hanson came to tell my mother and
me that we had made it to the family interviews. I was scared that they
would cut me when they found out.
FLETCHER: Mr. Hanson?
LASSITER: He was Becky’s first GundTech rep. I was immediately assigned to Becky because of my signing ability.
FLETCHER: Then you signed for Becky at the interview.
(LASSITER SIGNING TO WEINGOLD)
WEINGOLD: No. Amy was there, of course, but not to sign. They asked me if it would be okay to test the IHT closed captioning during our interview.
FLETCHER: Closed captioning? Like on the net?
LASSITER: Exactly, but this would be real time and the words would be floating close to the person who spoke them. We didn’t know how a user would react to captioning in what appeared to be the “real world.”
FLETCHER: So Becky, tell me what happened? What was it like seeing a person’s words appear out of thin air?
WEINGOLD: I don’t really know… You see, I could hear everyone just fine.
FLETCHER: You could hear? How?
WEINGOLD: I don’t really understand. Amy?
LASSITER: As you have reported on your program, one part of IHT technology is an interaction with the brain. We fool the senses into seeing, feeling, and hearing. Becky was a surprise to all of us. The possibilities are staggering. What I’m about to tell you is news to both Becky and her mother, Ruth. GundTech has set up the Weingold/Farroud Foundation to explore the application of IHT technology to help the disabled. Think of a new type of hearing aid that could developed!
(APPLAUSE)
FLETCHER: And who is Farroud?
LASSITER: He is the student from Iraq. Young Mustafa, whom we have nicknamed “Mouse,” suffers from a muscular disease that has confined him to a wheelchair. He is free of the chair within the IHT world. In the academy, he will be no different from the other students. Mustafa and his older brother have been in Oslo for more than a month — working out.
FLETCHER: Working out?
LASSITER: We put him on the same test program as our professional athlete subject. As you know, confinement to a wheelchair or bed causes a person’s muscles to atrophy, or deteriorate. The same is true of our astronauts when they spend a lot of time in weightlessness. Well, little Mouse has actually put on weight and has regained some muscle tone by exercising within the IHT environment.
FLETCHER: You mean to say you cured…
LASSITER: [interupting] No. We must be very clear on that point. We did not and cannot cure Mustafa’s disease. What we can do is raise his quality of life and help delay the effects of the disease. This technology could give new hope to those families waiting for a cure.
FLETCHER: Malik! I didn’t mean to ignore you. Tell me about yourself and your family.
MALIK SIMONS: Not much to tell, really. I’m a senior in high school and I hope to attend MIT when I graduate. I have three older sisters. My folks both work for a bottling company in Atlanta. My dad’s in marketing and my mom’s in public relations.
FLETCHER: What made you want to attend the IHT Academy?
SIMONS: (SHRUGS)
FLETCHER: I’m sorry. Did I embarrass you?
SIMONS: I guess that it’s because I’m a total geek.
(LAUGHTER)
FLETCHER: Don’t be embarrassed, Mr. Simons. How do you think I ended up being the technology reporter for the WBN?
(LAUGHTER)
FLETCHER: We’ll be right back after this commercial break.
– End Chapter Seventeen –
