TRACKING DEVELOPMENT OF THE 'INFORMATION RAILROAD'.(BUSINESS)

Byline: Associated Press

Forget the "information highway" and climb aboard the "information railroad."

The metaphor Vice President Al Gore and others have used for years to describe the changes computers and telecommunications will have on society has been deemed a "lie or wishful thinking at best" by Wired magazine, trendy tracker of the digital revolution.

The development of more powerful information networks will more closely parallel the building of the nation's railroads than its highways, contributing editor John Browning wrote in the magazine's February issue.

"Like railroads, new information networks are increasingly being …