Although todayÕs newspapers will be around for a long, long time, the newspaper business will be fundamentally altered when the consumer has access to the information highway É The information highway will provide alternative, more efficient ways for individual buyers and sellers to get together. Once the majority of customers in a market use electronic access to shop, classified revenues will be threatened. That means much of the newspaper advertising base could be in jeopardy. It does not, however, mean that newspaper will disappear overnight, or that newspaper companies canÕt continue to be important and profitable players in the delivery of news and advertising.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes:ÒAlthough todayÕs newspapers will be around for a long, long time, the newspaper business will be fundamentally altered when the consumer has access to the information highway É The information highway will provide alternative, more efficient ways for individual buyers and sellers to get together. Once the majority of customers in a market use electronic access to shop, classified revenues will be threatened. That means much of the newspaper advertising base could be in jeopardy. It does not, however, mean that newspaper will disappear overnight, or that newspaper companies canÕt continue to be important and profitable players in the delivery of news and advertising. But, like all companies that have a middleman or brokering role, theyÕll have to be alert to change and take advantage of their unique qualities to succeed in the electronic world.Ó
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: Newspapers
Name of publication: The Road Ahead (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 8: Friction-Free Capitalism
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 180
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne