Maybe the bandwidth should be free, and we buy movies, long-distance health monitoring, and documents because of their value, not the channel’s. It would be unconscionable to think of buying toys based on the number of atoms in them. It is time to understand what bits and atoms mean.
Predictor: Negroponte, Nicholas
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “Being Digital,” Nicholas Negroponte writes: ”Maybe the bandwidth should be free, and we buy movies, long-distance health monitoring, and documents because of their value, not the channel’s. It would be unconscionable to think of buying toys based on the number of atoms in them. It is time to understand what bits and atoms mean.”
Biography:Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab and a popular speaker and writer about technologies of the future, wrote one of the 1990s’ best-selling books about the new future of communications, “Being Digital.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: February 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Being Digital (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 6: The Bit Business
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 78
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne