But now, the Stamford, Conn., company is moving onto the electronic superhighway.

Will the Paramount deal merely make a brave new world safe for shoppers and for mediocre movies moving over an electronic superhighway?

Few things are really certain about building the fabled electronic superhighway, except this: it will cost a staggering amount of money.

As we move into the era of the electronic superhighway where you have hundreds of channels for pay-for-view and home shopping, the video rental business will lose its edge.

He presciently coined the term "electronic superhighway" in 1974, grasping the essence of global communications and seeing the possibilities of technologies that were barely born.

Nationwide, tests are under way in about 30 residential sites of the technology envisioned for a nationwide electronic superhighway.

The findings will determine how Pacific Bell builds its leg of the electronic superhighway.

"The future of the electronic superhighway is voice, video and data," he said.

Finally, if the electronic superhighway becomes an easily accessible link to millions of others worldwide, why go through a printer, distributer and bookstore?

Anxiety about new technology, particularly the so-called electronic superhighway, is pushing the effort.