Access to government information, medical advice, bulletin boards, and some educational material will be free. Once people are on the highway, they will enjoy full egalitarian access to vital on-line resources. Within 20 years, as commerce, education, and broad-scale communications services move onto the highway, an individual’s ability to be part of mainstream society will depend, at least in part, on his or her using it. Society will have to decided how to subsidize broad access so that all users will be equal, both geographically and socioeconomically.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes:”Access to government information, medical advice, bulletin boards, and some educational material will be free. Once people are on the highway, they will enjoy full egalitarian access to vital on-line resources. Within 20 years, as commerce, education, and broad-scale communications services move onto the highway, an individual’s ability to be part of mainstream society will depend, at least in part, on his or her using it. Society will have to decided how to subsidize broad access so that all users will be equal, both geographically and socioeconomically.”
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 12: Critical Issues
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 257
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne