High-bandwidth cable connections will link most information appliances to the highway, but some devices will connect wirelessly … When you are on the road and want information from your home or office computer, your portable information appliance will connect to the wireless part of the highway, a switch will connect that to the wired part, and then to the computer/server in your home or office and bring you the information you asked for. There will also be local, less expensive kinds of wireless networks available inside businesses and most homes. These networks will allow you to connect to the highway or your own computer without paying time charges so long as you are within a certain range. Local wireless networks will use technology different from the one used by the wide-area wireless networks. However, portable information devices will automatically select the least expensive network they are able to connect to, so the user won’t be aware of the technological differences. The indoor wireless networks will allow wallet PCs to be used in place of remote controls.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes: ”High-bandwidth cable connections will link most information appliances to the highway, but some devices will connect wirelessly … When you are on the road and want information from your home or office computer, your portable information appliance will connect to the wireless part of the highway, a switch will connect that to the wired part, and then to the computer/server in your home or office and bring you the information you asked for. There will also be local, less expensive kinds of wireless networks available inside businesses and most homes. These networks will allow you to connect to the highway or your own computer without paying time charges so long as you are within a certain range. Local wireless networks will use technology different from the one used by the wide-area wireless networks. However, portable information devices will automatically select the least expensive network they are able to connect to, so the user won’t be aware of the technological differences. The indoor wireless networks will allow wallet PCs to be used in place of remote controls.”
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: Getting, Sharing Information
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 105, 106
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne