Sure, we all knew that the Net was going to become more commercial, but it still is somehow unsettling to see your formerly pastoral town filled with new high-rises, billboards, and gawking tourists. What’s strange is the mass media’s portrayal of net.pioneers as a bunch of rabid anti-business hippies – as if most people are delighted with TV commercials and junk mail. Advertising may be inevitable, but it’s still worth bitching about.
Predictor: Steinberg, Steve G.
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article listing tech items and issues that are currently being hyped, Steve Steinberg of Wired magazine writes: ”From the infamous ‘green card’ posting to the pyramid schemes that won’t go away, the Net is looking more like New York City and less like Pinedale, Wyoming, every day. Sure, we all knew that the Net was going to become more commercial, but it still is somehow unsettling to see your formerly pastoral town filled with new high-rises, billboards, and gawking tourists. What’s strange is the mass media’s portrayal of net.pioneers as a bunch of rabid anti-business hippies – as if most people are delighted with TV commercials and junk mail. Advertising may be inevitable, but it’s still worth bitching about.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: E-commerce
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Hype List: Business on the Net
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.08/hypelist.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney