I know I should be talking to you about the technical aspects, but first let me tell you about a dream I had a while back. I dreamed that I was searching through my home library for material for a research project, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I imagined contacting the National Library or a university abroad, and I already knew how much time and effort that would take.
Rather unenthusiastically, I set about organizing my little library, trying to come up with a solution; but as I was thinking, something very strange was happening to my library: it was becoming darker and darker and less and less clear, and eventually, in its place, there was just a huge black door. Actually, it wasn’t really a door, because it wasn’t solid, but rather resembled a kind of black, pulsating magnetic field.

The Dream: A Multidimensional Teleportation Device

As I approached, filled with curiosity, text appeared against the black background in glowing letters suspended in the air: “This is a multidimensional teleportation device; if you cross its threshold, you will find what you are looking for.”
Although I didn’t quite understand the meaning of the text and even though I was a bit timid, curiosity was stronger, and after taking a deep breath, I took the decisive step.

WOOPS!

I was sucked into a sort of vortex, without fully understanding what was happening, but I felt my molecular structure shifting as my consciousness faded for a moment. After regaining control, I realized that everything had changed: I was no longer made of flesh and blood, but only of spirit; more than that, I was no longer in Bucharest, although, in a certain way, I could still see all the books in my library.

Entering the Magical World of Information

I had arrived in the Magical World of Information, which contains all the books from every library in the world.
I realized that I had access to any volume simply by reaching out with my spiritual arm, and—what was even more amazing—I could communicate with anyone who, like me, was in that magical world at that moment, regardless of the “earthly” library they had entered.
Growing increasingly confused, I realized the surprises weren’t over: it wasn’t just an immense library, which, in addition to books, contained paintings, music, and films, but a true meeting place. I could see an endless row of tables around which various people were gathered, and above each one a sign indicated what was being discussed at that moment: Aristotelian philosophy, molecular biology, Robert De Niro’s films, business,…
Thrilled, I realized I was free to speak and listen at any of the tables, and I immediately discovered that some tables were “much” more interesting: at one table, all sorts of pornographic material was being exchanged; at others, people were playing chess or video games; and at still others, new connections were being made.
Without forgetting that I am a businessman, I was looking for something for myself, and oh, behold the wonder: hundreds of tables where one could buy and sell, where information could be exchanged on anything: import-export, franchising, business schools, financiers, joint ventures…
Overcome with enthusiasm, I wanted to see everything, to talk to everyone, but I realized that time, this “censor” of our existence, could not grant me such a wish. But, as a consolation, I discovered something else—that it was
possible to leave, at every table that interested me, a message, an opinion, a question, which would be read by all those interested and to which I would receive a response, whether public or just for me.
As I got used to the environment, I kept discovering new things: that I could read newspapers from all over the world, I could do banking, I could, in this parallel world, work and earn…
Satisfied and still dazed, I woke up from this dream and WOW!, one last surprise: it wasn’t a dream, it was all true—
I was simply CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET!

Readers will forgive me for this somewhat unconventional approach to the Internet. As it is a hot topic in Romania right now, much has been said and written about this “network of networks”—some of it informed, some of it… “off the cuff” (that is, based on hearsay)—often by people with no expertise in the matter.
However, I did not want to add my voice to the chorus of those trying to explain it in a page or two, and I preferred, as usual, to approach the subject from a different angle.

Beyond Computers: The Ultimate Communication Tool

Anyone who has read my articles on Psychology and Communication so far might be surprised to see me tackling a technical subject such as computers and their use on the Internet. If, however, we focus once again on the principles, everything becomes clearer: even in this case, we are actually dealing with our favorite subject—Communication.
The concept of the Internet itself is nothing special, given that a telephone line allows two computers to connect so they can exchange information, and with current technical capabilities, nothing prevents multiple computers from connecting.
The advantage, of course, is that each user can access the information stored on all the other computers, in addition to being able to communicate with other connected users. If a user connected to the network is currently offline, it is still possible to leave them a message (like a voicemail). So far, nothing spectacular.
What makes the Internet truly extraordinary, however, is its scale: at present, there are approximately 60 million computers connected to one another worldwide, containing every possible type of information, and their number is growing every day. In reality, the Internet is on the verge of transforming our planet into a true thinking machine, a sort of “global brain” of humanity, effectively creating a new “virtual” reality that is separate and parallel to the ordinary one; soon, not being on the “Internet” will simply be akin to “not existing.”

The Global Brain: A Philosophical Revolution

This is why the concept of the Internet has much less to do with computers than with our view of the world: computers are in fact merely the means through which, within a few short years, a true revolution will take place in the way we live, work, and think—a revolution for which we must prepare ourselves not so much from a technical standpoint (it is no more difficult than using any other program) but especially from a philosophical standpoint. That is why, in keeping with the spirit of the magazine, starting with this issue we will begin to explore business opportunities in the “virtual” world of the Internet, beginning with the introduction of a new service designed for Romanian entrepreneurs.