The objective is to get people to come to your space, provide lots of value and have them hang out as long as possible … The consumer is free to have a relationship with anybody they want to. Our job is to facilitate that relationship.
Predictor: Kurnit, Scott
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Information Week, Mary Thyfault interviews Scott Kurnit of MCI. Thyfault writes: ”In January, MCI hired Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet’s early developers, and Scott Kurnit, a new-media marketing expert, to lead its Internet attack … In April, MCI introduced InternetMCI, an attempt at creating a new model for online services. MCI hopes to buck the trend set by America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, and soon, Microsoft. Those companies all charge customers entrance fees for browsing on online services. But Kurnit says ‘that model is flawed for the future of online services.’ Instead, he foresees a TV-like online service. ‘The objective is to get people to come to your space, provide lots of value and have them hang out as long as possible,’ Kurnit says. MCI’s role, he believes, is not to charge users for time, but to provide a ‘Net tone,’ something like a telephone’s dial tone. ‘The consumer is free to have a relationship with anybody they want to,’ he says. ‘Our job is to facilitate that relationship.'”
Date of prediction: July 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Internet Service Providers
Name of publication: Information Week
Title, headline, chapter name: MCI Still Fighting: The No. 2 Long-Distance Carrier is Mapping Out an Ambitious Strategy to Win New Customers
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 34
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney