Viewers [could] choose material a la carte from a computer screen, just as if they were ordering from a restaurant menu … offering a focused selection of information relevant to Vietnamese immigrants living anywhere in the United States, for example, or world and national news of special interest to people in Peoria, Ill.
Predictor: Oracle Corporation
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The New York Times, reporter John Markoff writes about a proposed plan to send digital video on the Internet. He writes:”The Oracle service would be aimed at people at work and consumers at home, though using it would require a special high-speed telephone circuit known as an integrated-services digital network, or ISDN line. People familiar with Oracle’s strategy said the company hoped to attract a wide range of television and newspaper organizations that would place their news video, audio and text information on a single server computer. Viewers [could] choose material a la carte from a computer screen, just as if they were ordering from a restaurant menu. That capability, several industry executives said, would make it possible for news organizations like Reuters to direct news video and text to very specific audiences or local markets – offering a focused selection of information relevant to Vietnamese immigrants living anywhere in the United States, for example, or world and national news of special interest to people in Peoria, Ill.”
Date of prediction: March 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Intelligent Agents/AI
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: Oracle Plan May Enable PC Users to Customize News
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/w95/RN/mar17news/Merc-news-oracle.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stotler, Larry