You have more than likely heard the visions of, for example, interactive television, 500 channels and video on demand. Interactive multimedia, that dynamic merger of video, audio and computer technology, could enable the Information Superhighway to deliver a dazzling array of entertainment and educational alternatives onto screens in American homes. While far beyond the current capabilities of cable television, this scenario of the Information Superhighway represents a relatively modest degree of innovation. This limited view of the Information Superhighway presents the consumer with more options, but it is virtually identical in spirit to existing services, such as movies-on-demand offered by many hotels.
Predictor: Hoffman, Donna L.
Prediction, in context:Donna Hoffman and Thomas Novak of Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management present three development scenarios for the “information superhighway” in a 1994 article for The Owen Manager. The first reads:”Scenario One: ‘Couch Potato Heaven.’ Unless you have been living under a rock, you have more than likely heard the visions of, for example, interactive television, 500 channels and video on demand. Interactive multimedia, that dynamic merger of video, audio and computer technology, could enable the Information Superhighway to deliver a dazzling array of entertainment and educational alternatives onto screens in American homes. While far beyond the current capabilities of cable television, this scenario of the Information Superhighway represents a relatively modest degree of innovation. This limited view of the Information Superhighway presents the consumer with more options, but it is virtually identical in spirit to existing services, such as movies-on-demand offered by many hotels … [the consumer] is in a relatively passive position, and the information provider dominates the interactive relationship.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Owen Graduate School of Management Magazine: The Owen Manager
Title, headline, chapter name: Commercializing the Information Superhighway: Are We in for a Smooth Ride?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://elab.vanderbilt.edu/research/papers/html/manuscripts/smooth.ride.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Krout, Kevin M.