Diversity will maximize profit only by assuring the largest possible customer base. Since when does mass appeal mean the flourishing of free, autonomous, yet interdependent individuals that is the hallmark of a “Jeffersonian democracy?” In his National Press Club speech, the vice president [Al Gore] was closer to the truth: “We’ll turn from consumers into providers. In a way, this change represents a kind of empowerment.” Certainly, access to networks such as the NII is the power issue of our time. Unfortunately, the vice president went on to liken individuals under the “communications revolution” to mere instrumental sources of informational “added value” to the economy, like factory workers. That’s precisely the wrong analogy if networks are to form the basis of an electronic “Jeffersonian democracy.”
Predictor: Cappio, James
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired, writer James Cappio says: ”What about the nascent national many-to-many network, the Internet? It’s under siege. Mitch Kapor, who has called for the privatization of the Internet since at least 1991, acknowledges that free expression by individuals requires government protection in a privatized Internet. But if the private communications industry cannot be trusted on its own to preserve many-to-many connections that already exist, how likely is it to ensure that such connections will be built into the NII [National Information Infrastructure]? … Diversity will maximize profit only by assuring the largest possible customer base. Since when does mass appeal mean the flourishing of free, autonomous, yet interdependent individuals that is the hallmark of a ‘Jeffersonian democracy?’ In his National Press Club speech, the vice president [Al Gore] was closer to the truth: ‘We’ll turn from consumers into providers. In a way, this change represents a kind of empowerment.’ Certainly, access to networks such as the NII is the power issue of our time. Unfortunately, the vice president went on to liken individuals under the ‘communications revolution’ to mere instrumental sources of informational ‘added value’ to the economy, like factory workers. That’s precisely the wrong analogy if networks are to form the basis of an electronic ‘Jeffersonian democracy.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Open Access
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Bad Attitude: Business as Usual on the Infobahn
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/attitude.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney