There is going to be a Tower of Babel of computer languages and we want to avoid having to use five different telephones or five different computers to perform five different applications.
Predictor: Garrett, John R.
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for the New York Times, technology columnist John Markoff reports on the proposed merger of phone company Bell Atlantic and Tele-Communications Inc., a major cable corporation. Markoff writes: ”Two groups of computer and telecommunications companies announced separately yesterday that they planned to begin work on standardizing how computers will talk to each other on the future information superhighway. Currently, when fax machines and personal computers communicate over telephone lines, they use a relatively simple language of screeches and whistles. But in the future, the task will be more difficult. The immense rivers of information that form voice, video and data will require more elaborate languages spoken by different kinds of computers that may transmit over cable television lines, fiber optic lines or even low-capacity copper telephone lines … Collaboratory … [a] 16-member group would emphasize practical applications … Bellcore plans to work with Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, Northern Telecom, Microware Systems, Wiltel, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Another group called the Cross-Industry Working Team, which has members that are also in the Bellcore group, said it would emphasize nuts-and-bolts standards and software. The group said it planned to define ‘architecture and key technical requirements’ for the superhighway … John R. Garrett, a senior official of the 28-member cross-industry group, said, ‘There is going to be a Tower of Babel of computer languages and we want to avoid having to use five different telephones or five different computers to perform five different applications.’ Mr. Garrett is with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a research firm in Reston, Va., that is coordinating the group.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: 2 Groups Plan Projects on Computer Standards
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Section D; Page 5; Column 5: Financial Desk
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney