Computers will deviously chew away at libraries from the inside. They’ll eat up the book budgets and require librarians who are more comfortable with computers than with children and scholars … The result won’t be a library without books – it’ll be a library without value.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bob Hoover writes about Clifford Stoll, author of the book “Silicon Snake Oil,” a cautionary look at the impact of computers and the Internet. Hoover quotes Stoll:”Computers will deviously chew away at libraries from the inside. They’ll eat up the book budgets and require librarians who are more comfortable with computers than with children and scholars … The result won’t be a library without books – it’ll be a library without value.”
Biography:Clifford Stoll was an astrophysicist who also wrote the influential books “Silicon Snake Oil” (1995) and “The Cuckoo’s Egg.” A long-time network user, Stoll made “Silicon Snake Oil” his platform for finding fault with the Internet hype of the early 1990s. He pointed out the pitfalls of a completely networked society and offered arguments in opposition to the hype. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Libraries/Databases
Name of publication: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Title, headline, chapter name: A Road to Nowhere
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=21616dc4fe39952d541525d52d76f693&_docnum=59&wchp=dGLbVlz-lSlzV&_md5=d88e220051d634cdb7cbabea065b5c2f
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Tencer, Elizabeth L.