It should be noted that this entire section is based on my views of the Net. If you don't subscribed to this concept feel free to ignore it.
Even in today's world we are seeing a gradual mingling of the different forms of communication. Already the first cable modems are being sold and the trend will continue far beyond.
The world of Cyberpunk is one where powerful corporations control nearly every aspect of people's lives. The corporation will not willingly allow anyone to escape their clutches. Thus the first casualty of the new information age is broadcasting. Pardon, I mean the transmission of television signals to antenna based receivers. No future corporation would be willing give away anything, even if it comes with advertising (this is of course based upon the grim view of the future given in Cyberpunk 2020). All television is handled by digital landlines. The benefits are impressive. No longer are screamsheet based TV guides needed, the digital feed carries all the appropriate data, and the link is two way. Corporations can check on viewer interest with real time rating surveys. More importantly, why lay down newer fiber optic lines to provide television. The existing network is perfectly adequate. Television and the net are joined as one. Even more impressive is the fact that distant cities no longer need to send data to orbiting satellites to be redirected. The feed can be sent through the net to a variety of sources. City grids, individual subscribers or if necessary to LDL's (Satellite uplink sites).
The next to fall to future corporate power is the phone. Old style phone lines are vastly inferior to coaxial cable lines. The cable can carry far more data and far more channels than any fiber optic line. In addition there is already a network in place, built by the old phone companies that is compatible. So the phone and the net are now one. (See where this is going?) 2020's phone service is not the same as our own. Virtual conferencing and full motion real time videophones. Portable data modules to receive downloaded data directly from the phone line.
Cellular phones are the least affected, but one change is now possible. All portable phones have two basic channels to direct data. The first and more expensive one is to uplink with a communications satellite and once the target has been found beam the data to it. The second makes more sense for local calls. In nearly every major city and nearly every neighborhood are local area phone links. They receive a short-range signal from all portable phones and are used to contact people in the same city. This is far cheaper than using a more expensive satellite channel. However those uplink stations and the short-range receivers are hooked into the existing phone line which as I have already stated in one with the net. Therefore almost every form of communication is channeled through the net at some point.
A few things will largely remain unchanged. Radio is still sent out in to the air to be received where the listener is. But it is now digital radio with far better sound quality and the ability to transmit data to news and mail readers around the world. You see it is possible to channel one station's data through the net to distant broadcast centers. Pagers are also largely unaffected it is still easier to bounce signals off satellites, but the amount of data has been vastly increased. Text, sounds and images can be downloaded to a pager, and most people are able to afford one. And don't through away the old rabbits ears of the TV, pirate broadcasters are common in nearly all areas.
But why do we care? First Net access is dirt cheap, far cheaper than CP 2020 makes out. After all the corporations need to get the message out, if the middle class can't see the commercials they won't know what to buy. Next there is no long distance in cyberspace. The net ignores distances. The only time you will be required to pay for long distance time is if you use an LDL (see Net Terminology Reexamined). If the Net ignores distance then for the most part so to do phone calls and television transmissions.
Of all the communications media we enjoy now television will perhaps be affected the most of all. Linking TV through the net offers a wide variety of benefits to the user. First all worldwide television feed as well as some of the pirate bands from larger cities will be channeled into the net at some point. Therefore it will be possible to watch shows being aired in Japan while living in New York. In addition there will be numerous archives available for use (at a price of course) so that any television show recorded in the last 70 years or so will be accessible. Of course net-based television still has commercials (more so than ever actually), and there is a much larger number of pay channels. Anyone who can afford a television system, usually a flat screen will have the basic net decoding software built in (this is a very narrow channel and can only receive those bandwidths required for use with television signals). Peripherals and add-ons are available for all types of computers including cybermodems.
Of course the content of television has changed. Digital transmissions are clearer and carry more information. HDTV has become the standard for transmission. Computer software can allow real time translation so the concept of subtitles and dubbing has largely disappeared. Most shows with a more factual base will have net accessible hyperlinks within the television signal to allow viewers to gain in-depth detail about aspects of the shows. Even more impressive is the fact that digital television programming allows the viewer to custom create his own news format in much the same way screamsheets can be customized. The viewer simply selects the codes for each modular segment in the channel's news show and watches them in whichever order he chooses.
With the addition of the net to television some interesting possibilities become possible. Interactive game shows allow the viewer to try and win money from the comfort of his own home. Broadcasters can use real time interactive surveys to judge the content of their shows. Viewers can be polled to allow variable story options during viewing.
Of all the mediums radio will probably change the least. Digital transmission will largely increase the quality of broadcasts. But radio is intended to be a audio medium and most people are not well equipped to learn from a purely verbal medium. The main improvement will come from repeater broadcasts. All radio transmissions are either plugged directly into the net or are downloaded from receiving stations. The resulting data flow is available anywhere on Earth. In addition a digital medium will allow the listener to select his or her programming. The listener simply tells the computer to seek all available signals with a set label and suddenly you have instant CD quality programming. In addition like TV all radio broadcasts are downloaded into archives for research purposes. Of course the archives that hold today's pirate broadcast may take some getting into.
Of course the net in 2020 allows for more than just traditional forms of broadcast entertainment. High quality digital links and a cybermodem peripheral in nearly every home will make SIM a major new entertainment medium. SIMs according to the rules seems to rely on chip based sources, and for some reason seems to be relegated to burned out cyberjunkies. Why? SIM is a completely real recorded experience. Actors are wired with SQUIDS (Super Conducting Quantum Interference Devices). A squid functions in a way that is very much like telepathy. It is able to record the complete brainwave activity of any person hooked up to one. This does not allow them to read minds (at least not in 2020). But it does allow them to record experiences in real time as they happen. Unlike the movie "Strange Days" SIMs can be very long, hours of recorded experience. Like conventional movies SIM's are available in virtually any genre. Careful editing can allow anyone to experience the struggles of solos and other adventurers (the editing is to reduce stimuli such as pain, allowing the SIM to be enjoyed by many). Sex SIMs are possible, and SIMsoaps are very popular (viewers can experience the lives of real millionaires). I can see no reason why SIM data cannot be transmitted across the Net allowing millions to experience the latest form of mind rotting junk.
But we had better consider the problem of SIM junkies. There are those personalities who cannot deal with reality and SIMs offers an excellent escape. This is the first type of SIM addict. The second type has found a different source for their SIMs. Black-market SIMs are available depicting experiences the general public would consider disgusting, not to mention illegal. Use your imagination (so that I don't have to). Most of these types of tapes are not edited for content, all experiences feel completely real. In fact the stimuli can be severe enough to cause neurological damage and psychosomatic ailments. But any act of depravity can usually be found somewhere on the SIM market.
There are two general forums for games on the Net. The first is VR and the second requires the use of traditional 2D technology.
VR games are quite easy to understand and use. The user simply hooks up his cybermodem and logs on to a VR gaming site. Rules for such netrunning are left entirely up to the Gamemaster. I suggest combining low end SIM with a variable icon that allows a fairly accurate representation of reality with a few exceptions. Players will reply upon Game statistics (determined by the Gamemaster) and intelligence and computer skills are the most important skills. 2D games are quite familiar to anyone today. Already we have the needed technology to play limited video games over a modem. In the future this will be greatly improved by cable modems and the Net. Players require a Net connection and the required hardware. I leave this idea entirely up to Gamemaster's.
So what does all this BS mean. Well first off all, nearly anyone will be able to get access to nearly any form of information. Any material published will be available on the Net. Be it books, magazines, music, art, video, games. If it is listed in a database somewhere it can be reached. Lists of medical records, addresses, phone numbers, automobile registration, criminal records or tax records. It is all out there to those who know where to look and how to find it. If a person has a question he can send it in the form of email to just about any institution on Earth. Education is far more available, if you have access to the Net.
The effects on netrunners are even more profound. The net is not as simple as the Cyberpunk 2020 rules try to make it seem. The Net is crowded, a few hundred million users can be on at any given second. Nearly every Corp will have a virtual office on the net for important meetings. Doing things in the physical world will become a status symbol (after all anyone can hook up to the net but not everyone can spend several hours flying out for a meeting). But even more there is a depth to the net that most runners are completely unaware of. The Net is divided into channels, similar in fashion to the way cellular and TV signals are today. The largest part is used for running the Net, but sub-channels are available for virtual LDLs, TV transmission, radio broadcasting, Dataterm links. With the correct hardware and software all of these sub-channels can be accessed. Your runners will be able to use the net to trace any phone call that moves partially through the net, or view TV shows while online. Even your regular characters will be required to use the net at some point.
It is not my purpose to create rules for fellow Gamemaster's, but I do want to try and make you think. Hopefully some of the ideas here will spark something. If so more power to you.