Managers simply won’t put their main computer systems, won’t put everyone’s desktop computer on the Internet. What good is it if entry-level clerks are spending their time browsing the World Wide Web? That’s not what they’re being paid to do. At the same time, you’re opening up your corporate information structure to the outside world.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 Computerworld article, journalist Lory Zottola Dix, interviewed security expert and author Cliff Stoll about the hype over the Internet. Dix quotes Stoll saying: ”When your local-area network becomes a part of an international global network, namely the Internet, you open yourself up to all sorts of critters. I understand quite well why many companies keep their internal networks just that internal and have one or two or a few small computers providing a front door. But these machines are largely disconnected from the internal networks. This, coupled with the amount of time that gets wasted by people who are on-line, tells me that many managers simply won’t put their main computer systems, won’t put everyone’s desktop computer on the Internet. What good is it if entry-level clerks are spending their time browsing the World Wide Web? That’s not what they’re being paid to do. At the same time, you’re opening up your corporate information structure to the outside world.”
Biography:Clifford Stoll was an astrophysicist who also wrote the influential books “Silicon Snake Oil” (1995) and “The Cuckoo’s Egg.” A long-time network user, Stoll made “Silicon Snake Oil” his platform for finding fault with the Internet hype of the early 1990s. He pointed out the pitfalls of a completely networked society and offered arguments in opposition to the hype. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Computerworld
Title, headline, chapter name: An Interview with Cliff Stoll; This Security Expert, Network Pioneer and Best-selling Author is Sick and Tired of Internet Hype
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 85
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne