The NII’s ability to support cooperative work across space and time would also allow more people to work at home. Parents, disabled individuals or simply people who prefer to live in a different locale from their place of employment could work with others on all kinds of office tasks … Telecommuting will become more attractive with the NII that carries high-quality pictures, sounds, and other work-related information faster and more faithfully than today’s phone network.
Predictor: Dertouzos, Michael
Prediction, in context:In a 1991 article for Technology Review, MIT researcher/administrator Michael Dertouzos writes: ”The NII’s ability to support cooperative work across space and time would also allow more people to work at home. Parents, disabled individuals or simply people who prefer to live in a different locale from their place of employment could work with others on all kinds of office tasks. Such telcommuting occurs today on a minuscule scale. But just as people were willing to commute longer distances once dirt roads gave way to highways, telecommuting will become more attractive with the NII that carries high-quality pictures, sounds, and other work-related information faster and more faithfully than today’s phone network.”
Biography:Michael Dertouzos was director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and the author of “The Unfinished Revolution.” He led a project intended to make computers adapt to people. He outlined a comprehensive proposal for a national information “infrastructure” in a 1991 article for Technology Review. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: Telecommuting
Name of publication: Technology Review
Title, headline, chapter name: Building the Information Marketplace
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web2.infortrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/599/939/33335311w2/purl=rcl
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney