There needs to be more core infrastructure, and I don’t care how we get there. If the government kick-starts the market, it will happen more quickly, and that makes sense.
Predictor: Case, Steve
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 New York Times article, John Markoff reports on the arguments over who should build the proposed information superhighway and quotes America Online President Steve Case. Markoff writes: ”[Many] industry and public-interest groups think there is room for a large government role in building the network. This month, members of a computer manufacturers’ group called the Computer Systems Policy Project, which includes IBM, Apple and Digital, called for the creation of a government entity to be chaired by Mr. Gore and called the National Information Infrastructure Council. The council would direct government spending, possibly more than $3 billion annually, for computer-network development as well as for existing federally developed networks that are part of the Internet. Electronic information services and other businesses that would use the data superhighway argue that private industry has been slow in developing it, and that government involvement is necessary to create the market for advanced networks. ‘Your perspective on this depends on whether you already own a network or not,’ said Stephen Case, president of America Online, a commercial information service that has recently connected to the Internet. ‘There needs to be more core infrastructure, and I don’t care how we get there. If the government kick-starts the market, it will happen more quickly, and that makes sense.’ This kind of spending, according to some economists and industry executives, would help create markets that are not now being pursued by private industry because of the prohibitive costs of developing new technologies.”
Biography:Steve Case was founder and CEO of America Online, now merged with Time Warner. AOL developed into the country’s largest commercial Internet service provider, reaching a vast Internet community. The proliferation of AOL’s services helped define developing trends in Internet communication. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
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: Partial quote
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: Anderson, Janna Quitney