Why not persuade U S West and Time Warner that, in exchange for receiving regulatory approval for video-on-demand trials in places like Omaha, Nebraska, and the wealthy suburbs of Orlando, Florida, they should help subsidize nonprofit efforts to run trials in rural Nebraska and in Harlem? … Such trials – combined with the continued organic growth of freenets, library-access programs, and other community-based projects – would generate meaningful information on which infobahn applications are essential to all Americans, and hence ought to eventually become the focus of universal-service programs.
Predictor: Glaser, Rob
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 essay for Wired magazine, Rob Glaser, founder and president of Progressive Networks Inc., discusses the prospect of universal network service, available to all people. Glaser writes: ”The biggest problem with locking in on a universal-access plan is that nobody knows what the essence of the infobahn will be. Fiber-optic cable to everyone’s home? Specific applications such as video-on-demand or interactive home shopping? Even if we did know, which infobahn services would we consider truly essential? Basic e-mail? The multimedia successor to plain old telephone service? Anyone, including government officials, who deigned to ‘know’ the answer today to any of these questions would be exhibiting only arrogance. The best practical step we can take now is to broaden the range of trials being undertaken. For instance, why not persuade U S West and Time Warner that, in exchange for receiving regulatory approval for video-on-demand trials in places like Omaha, Nebraska, and the wealthy suburbs of Orlando, Florida, they should help subsidize nonprofit efforts to run trials in rural Nebraska and in Harlem? I’d bet that some foundations would kick in a few bucks, too. Such trials – combined with the continued organic growth of freenets, library-access programs, and other community-based projects – would generate meaningful information on which infobahn applications are essential to all Americans, and hence ought to eventually become the focus of universal-service programs.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Digital Divide
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Universal Service Does Matter: Not Because You’re a Bleeding Heart, but Because You’re Selfish
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.01/glaser.if_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney