(3 of 3)
As the information highway grows and driving gets more complicated, people may find themselves relying more and more on their metaphors. The Macintosh interface has already been adapted by such network services as CompuServe and America Online (on which sending a message is like posting a note on a bulletin board). A similar Mac-like program called Mosaic is making the vast resources of the Internet increasingly accessible.
Meanwhile, ever more powerful metaphors are being designed to smooth over the complexities of 500-channel TV, interactive video and other new media. General Magic, designing software for the new generation of pocket-size computers, draws on the metaphor of a street lined with buildings. Apple, in the design of its new online service, uses a village. Time Warner, for its video Full Service Network, is building an electronic shopping mall.
Someday, virtual-reality technology may enable people to put the screen icons behind them and step directly into the metaphor. In the future, says Levy, "we will cross the line between substance and cyberspace with increasing frequency, and think nothing of it." That's what Jobs would call a dent in the universe.