“I believe in technology,” Meckler said, explaining why he feels the Internet is such an important opportunity for business. He agrees with predictions that Internet users could number 700 million or more by the year 2000. Meckler compared today’s Internet usage to the personal-computer industry of the early ’80s. “I’m thinking we’re only in 1983 or 1984 right now, comparatively. Things are moving so quickly because fledgling companies are now coming into the Internet. My philosophy is that we’re moving up very quickly to 1989, ’95, ’96. The tools we have to use right now are rudimentary. In a few years you’ll look back and laugh at how rudimentary it was.”
Predictor: Meckler, Alan M.
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article that ran on Business Wire, Alan Meckler talks about the future of the Internet in an appearance at Future Focus ’95, the second annual seminar. The article says: ”Alan M. Meckler, Ph.D., chairman and CEO of Mecklermedia, likens the rush to the Internet to the Gold Rush of the 1800s. ‘While some rushed to find gold, ‘ he says, ‘others built the mercantile store, sold picks, shovels, machines and supplies.’ Building the mercantile store is what Meckler’s company, Mecklermedia, has done with MecklerWeb, its World Wide Web site that offers fresh content pertaining to the Internet and virtual reality … Mecklermedia publishes Internet World, the leading newsstand magazine devoted exclusively to professional and person uses of the Internet, plus Web Week, a journal for companies on the World Wide Web. Mecklermedia also hosts Internet World trade shows, the world’s largest Internet-specific conferences. I believe in technology,’ Meckler said, explaining why he feels the Internet is such an important opportunity for business. He agrees with predictions that Internet users could number 700 million or more by the year 2000. Meckler compared today’s Internet usage to the personal-computer industry of the early ’80s. ‘I’m thinking we’re only in 1983 or 1984 right now, comparatively,’ he said. ‘Things are moving so quickly because fledgling companies are now coming into the Internet. My philosophy is that we’re moving up very quickly to 1989, ’95, ’96. The tools we have to use right now are rudimentary. In a few years you’ll look back and laugh at how rudimentary it was.'”
Biography:Alan M. Meckler was the chief executive officer of Mecklermedia in the early 1990s. His Mecklerweb was one of the first commercial web sites and his Internet World magazine was the first publication devoted exclusively to the Internet. His Internet World trade show and publishing business helped foster the growth and advancement of the Internet. In the mid-’90s, he sold Mecklermedia to Penton Media. He became CEO of Internet.com Corporation and later built it into Jupitermedia Corporation, which became a leading provider of global real-time news, information, research and media resources for information technology and Internet industry professionals. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: May 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Number of Users
Name of publication: Business Wire
Title, headline, chapter name: Future Focus: Speaker Details Marketing Opportunities on the World Wide Web
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=2219c1861aa4b1402f0c456108f6e994&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVzz-lSlzV&_md5=3e36a58860ac196cf7083d6157d771a2
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Pinkerton, Bradley Steven