The private sector won’t gamble on such a risky investment. Even if it did, he says, it would build not a superhighway available to all but rather a kind of private toll road open only to a business and scientific elite.
Predictor: Gore, Al
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 New York Times article, John Markoff paraphrases a point of view expressed by Vice President Al Gore regarding who should build the information superhighway – business or government. Markoff writes: ”Mr. Gore argues that the private sector won’t gamble on such a risky investment. Even if it did, he says, it would build not a superhighway available to all but rather a kind of private toll road open only to a business and scientific elite. He says the new national data highway should be a public network constructed and regulated by the government for all Americans. Indeed, the whole project would be a key test for the industrial policy that Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore view as a way to revive the economy. The regional Bell operating companies, which could profit by delivering the data from the superhighway to homes and businesses, might well support Mr. Gore because they think the government can get the superhighway up and running most effectively. Public-interest advocates for groups like the nation’s librarians and educators also support a large government role to prevent them from being excluded from the network. Also on Mr. Gore’s side are computer makers like IBM, Apple and Digital Equipment, which hope to gain as the network creates a greater demand for new computers. Like the Bell companies, they think the government can make the highway happen most quickly. Businesses offering information services, like Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online, take a similar view.”
Biography:Al Gore, a former U.S. senator and vice president, made the future of technology an important part of his political agenda and was a leader in technology policymaking in the years before and during the Clinton Administration. Internet pioneers said his support had significant impact in the building of the U.S. network. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: Building the Electronic Superhighway
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=06df318c7c877e4f99b4d681fd5d7d8a&_docnum=11&wchp=dGLbVzb-lSlAl&_md5=fe0727c350edc2a7ea67660126e27835
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Pagano, Shawna