I think the best paradigm for the Internet is to forget that its a technology and pretend that it’s a language … [The] Internet behaves more like the English language than like a technology … I can scarcely believe what I’m seeing nowadays. There’s something primally exhilarating about being in a bus without brakes.
Predictor: Sterling, Bruce
Prediction, in context:A 1995 e-mail interview with science fiction writer and cyberspace commentator Bruce Sterling for Telecommunications International included the following exchange: TI: “In terms of communications strategies, has anyone in the marketplace got it right?” Sterling: “Nobody has it right. It’s probably not gonna be ‘right’ for another century or so. It may never be right. Is paper publishing ‘right’? Paper publishing is centuries old … I think the best paradigm for the Internet is to forget that its a technology and pretend that it’s a language. Private computer networks such as Prodigy and CompuServe are obviously business enterprises of a relatively conventional sort, but [the] Internet behaves more like the English language than like a technology … Ever since 1989 I’ve gotten up every morning to confront some fantastic circus. Really, I can scarcely believe what I’m seeing nowadays. There’s something primally exhilarating about being in a bus without brakes.”
Biography:Bruce Sterling, a writer, consultant and science fiction enthusiast, wrote or co-wrote “Schismatrix,” “The Hacker Crackdown” and “The Difference Engine” and edited “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology.” In the 1990s, he wrote tech articles for Fortune, Harper’s, Details, Whole Earth Review and Wired, where he was a contributing writer from its founding. He published the nonfiction book “Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years” in 2002. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: September 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Telecommunications
Title, headline, chapter name: Dropping Anchor in Cyberspace
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Vol. 29, Issue 9, Page 115 ISSN: 00402494
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney