A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee, no interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert, and who’d prefer cybersex to the real thing?
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Marcia Stepanek of Hearst Newspapers interviews scholars about their views of the expected impact of communications networks, quoting Clifford Stoll, author of “Silicon Snake Oil.” Stepanek writes: ”Clifford Stoll, the author of ‘Silicon Snake Oil – Second Thoughts on the Information Highway,’ says cyberspace threatens to relentlessly devalue ‘important aspects of human interactions.’ Says Stoll: ‘A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee, no interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert, and who’d prefer cybersex to the real thing?'”
Biography:Clifford Stoll was an astrophysicist who also wrote the influential books “Silicon Snake Oil” (1995) and “The Cuckoo’s Egg.” A long-time network user, Stoll made “Silicon Snake Oil” his platform for finding fault with the Internet hype of the early 1990s. He pointed out the pitfalls of a completely networked society and offered arguments in opposition to the hype. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Relationships
Name of publication: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Title, headline, chapter name: Scholars Try to Measure the Impact
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=a2da499fc860f603f890270e01d5c693&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVtb-lSlAl&_md5=c06b25b68e8d45fca948131279df77d3
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Garrison, Betty