The key to the culture is not its perversions but its aspirations and opportunities for distinction. By refracting the mass media into myriad media, the teleputer [networked computer] will open the way to floods of new programming.
Predictor: Gilder, George
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article he wrote for National Review, George Gilder, a fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle and author of “Life After Television,” expounds on his views of future communications. He writes:”Is this the future of mass media – more brutal and banal and salacious TV? Or is it Bill Gates’ vision of arts and letters and encyclopedias and empowered citizens visiting the wonders of the world without leaving their homes? The issue will be vital to the prospects for capitalism, for we live and work in our technologies, in our phones and TVs and computers, as much as we do in our homes and schools and neighborhoods … People in a crowd, as Ortega y Gasset explained in his masterpiece ‘The Revolt of the Masses,’ are mostly boobs. But in their first choices – in their individual tastes, hobbies, career aspirations, educational goals – people show huge diversity and higher refinement. Of course, individual tastes and interests can also veer toward the depraved and self-destructive. There is no doubt this fare will thrive on computer networks as it does in today’s mass media; sin and perversion we will always have with us. But the key to the culture is not its perversions but its aspirations and opportunities for distinction. By refracting the mass media into myriad media, the teleputer [networked computer] will open the way to floods of new programming.”
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, 1994
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: National Review
Title, headline, chapter name: Net Gains: Information, Technology & Culture; Breaking the Box
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Pages 37-43
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney