The full highway is unlikely to be available in homes for at least a decade … Constructing the highway will be a big job. It will require the installation of not only physical infrastructure, such as fiber-optic cable and high-speed switches and servers, but also the development of software platforms … The same sort of competition that took place within the PC industry during the 1980s is taking place now to create the software components that will constitute the information highway platform. The software that runs the highway will have to offer great navigation and security, electronic-mail and bulletin board capabilities, connection to competing software components, and billing and account services.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes: ”The full highway is unlikely to be available in homes for at least a decade … Constructing the highway will be a big job. It will require the installation of not only physical infrastructure, such as fiber-optic cable and high-speed switches and servers, but also the development of software platforms … The same sort of competition that took place within the PC industry during the 1980s is taking place now to create the software components that will constitute the information highway platform. The software that runs the highway will have to offer great navigation and security, electronic-mail and bulletin board capabilities, connection to competing software components, and billing and account services.”
Biography:Bill Gates, the most influential technology entrepreneur of the late 20th century, was the primary author of the prediction-packed 1995 book “The Road Ahead” and is the founder and CEO of Microsoft Corporation. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Road Ahead (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 5: Paths to the Highway
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Pages 88, 89
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne