Even the now-ubiquitous ATMs (in their role as cash dispensers, at least) will become obsolete if coins and bills are eventually eliminated. This is a fairly straightforward technical possibility; a combination of network transfers, checks, credit cards, debit cards, ubiquitous point-of-sale terminals, and replacement of coin-operated gizmos like parking meters with electronic card-reading devices clearly could yield a cash-free society. Personal terminals, for making and receiving payments anywhere, could be integrated with laptop or palmtop computers or could be specialized wallet-sized devices … Cash money and associated transaction points may soon disappear entirely. Today’s Willie Suttons are learning to crack computer security, not safes.
Predictor: Mitchell, William J.
Prediction, in context:In his 1994 book “City of Bits,” MIT computer scientist William J. Mitchell writes: ”Postmodern thieves no longer break into vaults or terrorize tellers; bent Baudrillardists, they have learned to bamboozle with floating signifiers instead – because money, too, is now digital information endlessly circulating in cyberspace … National and international ATM networks developed, so that you could get cash from machines that were far away from your hometown. The traditional Main Street bank building disintegrated, and the pieces that remained reintegrated themselves into new settings. At the same time, electronic funds transfer networks have supplanted traditional heist bait-the stagecoach, the armored truck, and even (to some extent) the pocket full of cash … Money is no longer bullion in a strongbox, but bits in an online database … Even the now-ubiquitous ATMs (in their role as cash dispensers, at least) will become obsolete if coins and bills are eventually eliminated. This is a fairly straightforward technical possibility; a combination of network transfers, checks, credit cards, debit cards, ubiquitous point-of-sale terminals, and replacement of coin-operated gizmos like parking meters with electronic card-reading devices clearly could yield a cash-free society. Personal terminals, for making and receiving payments anywhere, could be integrated with laptop or palmtop computers or could be specialized wallet-sized devices. Bank buildings, then, are no longer where the money is. They are shrinking to the point where they can no longer serve to celebrate financial institutions and transactions as Soane’s great design so compellingly did. Indeed, cash money and associated transaction points may soon disappear entirely. Today’s Willie Suttons are learning to crack computer security, not safes.”
Biography:William J. Mitchell was a professor and dean of architecture at MIT and the author of the predictive book “City of Bits: Space, Place and the Infobahn” (1994). He also taught at Harvard, Yale, Carnegie-Mellon and Cambridge Universities. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: E-commerce
Name of publication: City of Bits
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 4: Recombinant Architecture
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-books/City_of_Bits/index.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney