The origins of the data highway metaphor are not the speeches of Vice President Al Gore. It was used as early as 1971 when Ralph Smith, writing in The Nation, also coined the term “The Wired Nation” … His vision convinced people at the FCC to lower the regulatory barriers to the development of cable … Many communications companies … are adding value by adding intelligence to the network. Groups such as librarians and educators feel that the intelligence should be in the form of the users, moderators and other intermediaries who will populate the networks, alongside the software agents slowly emerging from labs and companies. These developments and the spread of the national infrastructure will heavily influence the choices cities and regions have as they establish community networks.
Predictor: Cisler, Steve
Prediction, in context:In a report on community networks written in 1993 and published on the Web site of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Steve Cisler writes: ”The origins of the data highway metaphor are not the speeches of Vice President Al Gore. It was used as early as 1971 when Ralph Smith, writing in The Nation, also coined the term ‘The Wired Nation:’ ‘…the nation provided large federal subsidies for a new interstate highway system to facilitate and modernize the flow of automotive traffic. It … should make a similar national commitment for an electronic highway system.’ In the article and the book, Smith described how a variety of social objectives would be supported by the four kinds of broadband networks: telephone, cable, institutional, and community-owned. His vision convinced people at the FCC to lower the regulatory barriers to the development of cable. Because we have powerful personal computers added to the Wired Nation 20 years later, many people believe it will somehow be different this time. Many libertarians and computer enthusiasts see the power being decentralized, with unlimited computer cycles available very cheaply and within the reach of most consumers. While the computer companies believe the intelligence will reside in the machine and its software, many communications companies, especially the telephone companies, are adding value by adding intelligence to the network. Groups such as librarians and educators feel that the intelligence should be in the form of the users, moderators and other intermediaries who will populate the networks, alongside the software agents slowly emerging from labs and companies. These developments and the spread of the national infrastructure will heavily influence the choices cities and regions have as they establish community networks.”
Biography:Steve Cisler was the chief library scientist at the Apple Corporate Library and was active in the early Internet community as a writer/activist. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Virtual Communities
Name of publication: Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Web site
Title, headline, chapter name: Community Computer Networks: Building Electronic Greenbelts
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
www.cpsr.org/program/community-nets/building_electronic_greenbelts.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney