In the future it will not be necessary to use any specific type of operating system in order to take advantage of widely available software. Furthermore, a user’s software could reside anywhere on a network, not just on the machines where it would be used.
Predictor: Gilder, George
Prediction, in context:John Murphey wrote the following paraphrase of a point made by George Gilder in his online column Tech Track, a compilation of technology-related items regularly summarized from magazine and newspaper articles:”In the future it will not be necessary to use any specific type of operating system in order to take advantage of widely available software. Furthermore, a user’s software could reside anywhere on a network, not just on the machines where it would be used. Such an advance would put a major dent in Microsoft’s desires to exploit its operating systems and its ‘installed base,’ and it would give a large boost to the importance of the Internet.”
Biography:George Gilder was a pioneer the formulation of the theory of supply-side economics. In his major book “Microcosm” (1989), he explored the quantum roots of the new electronic technologies. His book “Life After Television,” published by W.W. Norton (1992), is a prophecy of computers and telecommunications displacing the broadcast-TV empire. He followed it with another classic, “Telecosm.” (Futurist/Consultant.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Language/Interface/Software
Name of publication: Monroe Street Journal
Title, headline, chapter name: Tech Track
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.umich.edu/~msjrnl/backmsj/111395/techtrack.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Allen, Patrick J.