information superhighway

information +‎ superhighway. The high-speed access to information is likened to fast travel on a superhighway. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

information superhighway (plural information superhighways)

1. (dated, computing) The Internet and all other computer networks in the 1990s.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:Internet

   • 1994 May, Gary Turbak, “The Phone Phenomenon”, in The Rotarian, volume 164, number 5, page 32:

     Developed nations also are moving at high speed toward the information superhighway being spearheaded by telephone technology. Britain, France, Germany, and other European nations are experimenting with high-tech phonery.

   • 2011, Bryce Clayton Newell, “Rethinking Reasonable Expectations of Privacy in Online Social Networks”, in Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, volume 17, number 4, page 2:

     Internet technologies and various software platforms make it much easier to communicate and find information about others' online communication. a For many – especially the younger generation – the “sacred precincts” of private life have extended onto the information superhighway.

• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year
• tubes

• superinformation highway