Sampling of e-mail isn’t such a good dipstick for the electorate’s opinions. Not only is e-mail unrepresentative, it’s easy to pad a petition campaign with thousands of duplicate e-mail messages. Someone can just program a computer to send in multiple copies. Handwritten letters, which require dedication and reflection, are far more serious vehicles of grassroots participation.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “Silicon Snake Oil,” writer Clifford Stoll shares his take on the Internet’s future implications for e-mail use in democracy and politics: ”Sampling of e-mail isn’t such a good dipstick for the electorate’s opinions. Not only is e-mail unrepresentative, it’s easy to pad a petition campaign with thousands of duplicate e-mail messages. Someone can just program a computer to send in multiple copies. Handwritten letters, which require dedication and reflection, are far more serious vehicles of grassroots participation.”
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: E-mail
Name of publication: Silicon Snake Oil
Title, headline, chapter name: An Amalgam of Popular Fictions About the Internet, Including Brief Trips to China and The City of No Illusions
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 33
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney