Standards are a good thing. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the academics and debates, but the issue is that things have to interoperate on a network. I think the devil’s in the details. Are the standards created from the top down, like interactive TV, or from the bottom up? Is there room for innovation in the process? If there is, then the process is going to be successful.
Predictor: Andreessen, Marc
Prediction, in context:The following is an excerpt from a 1995 Wired Magazine interview of Marc Andreessen by HotWired’s Chip Bayers: Bayers – “Netscape and certain content providers have leapt ahead of the common standards in their new versions. Are standards pointless?” Andreessen – “No, standards are a good thing. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the academics and debates, but the issue is that things have to interoperate on a network. I think the devil’s in the details. Are the standards created from the top down, like interactive TV, or from the bottom up? Is there room for innovation in the process? If there is, then the process is going to be successful.”
Biography:Marc Andreessen worked with Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1992, to develop a browser that would be usable on any computer, easy to use and graphically rich. In 1993, their browser, Mosaic, completely changed the face of the Internet Ð it allowed HTML “image” tags which make it so text and art can appear on the same page; it allowed easy text scrolling; and it introduced hyperlinks, allowing users to simply click on an area of the screen to go to another document on the Internet. In1994, Mosaic was developed and marketed; the product eventually was named Netscape. (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Why Bill Gates Wants to Be the Next Marc Andreessen
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/andreessen_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Allen, Patrick J.