The people who are now making the Net revolution happen are pretty public-spirited characters who want the best for the world, and the feeling is that as you get this really significant power to practically everybody, that’s good for everybody in the long run.
Predictor: Brand, Stewart
Prediction, in context:In an interview that aired on PBS-TV in 1995, Internet pioneer Stewart Brand said: ”The people who are reading and running and building computer and communication technology are basically optimists, not just in their own personal sense of they’re going to do well in this world, but … in a sense that it’s a better world they’re building. They’re not flat-out ideologues, but the people who made a personal computer revolution have been, and the people who are now making the Net revolution happen are pretty public-spirited characters who want the best for the world, and the feeling is that as you get this really significant power to practically everybody, that’s good for everybody in the long run.”
Biography:Stewart Brand founded Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL) in 1985 with Larry Brilliant. This was one of the first and most intellectually active online “communities.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: June 15, 1995
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: PBS-TV Interview in San Francisco
Title, headline, chapter name: High Stakes in Cyberspace
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cyberspace/brand.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney