Internet hustlers invade our communities with computers … The key ingredient of their silicon snake oil is a technocratic belief that computers and networks will make a better society. [But] the most important interactions in life happen between people, not between computers.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The New York Times, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt writes about Clifford Stoll, author of the book “Silicon Snake Oil,” a cautionary look at the impact of computers and the Internet. Lehmann-Haupt writes: ”Stoll compares the dream of the information highway to the nightmare of the superhighway system, which, he says, has destroyed our cities, paved our ‘pristine lands,’ given us ‘hourlong commutes’ and changed ‘our society from one of neighborhoods to that of suburbs … ‘Today’s Internet hustlers invade our communities with computers, not concrete,’ he writes. ‘The key ingredient of their silicon snake oil is a technocratic belief that computers and networks will make a better society.’ But he doesn’t believe them: ‘The most important interactions in life happen between people, not between computers.'”
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: May 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: Books of the Times
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=6024ec93baae9771dfd3ca4471eebff9&_docnum=2&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlAl&_md5=7294d6bc1be24d44b0103de229fec405
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Tencer, Elizabeth L.