Ideally, the industry will develop some standards so that when you go into a bulletin board or article, you get an indication of whether or not some “publisher” has looked it over, edited it, and stands behind its content. The question will be what standards and who will oversee them? … What we will most likely end up with is a series of categories, like the ratings given movies, that will indicate whether shrill voices have been controlled and whether an “editor” has deleted messages he thought were out of line with the polices of the group involved.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes:ÒIdeally, the industry will develop some standards so that when you go into a bulletin board or article, you get an indication of whether or not some ÔpublisherÕ has looked it over, edited it, and stands behind its content. The question will be what standards and who will oversee them? A bulletin board for lesbians should not be forced to accept antilesbian comments, not should a bulletin board about some product be overwhelmed by messages from a competitor. It would be a shame to have to keep children away from all bulletin boards, but it would also be unrealistic, and possibly an abridgment of free expression, to force all bulletin boards to undergo review by someone willing to accept liability for everything they constrain. What we will most likely end up with is a series of categories, like the ratings given movies, that will indicate whether shrill voices have been controlled and whether an ÔeditorÕ has deleted messages he thought were out of line with the polices of the group involved.Ó
Biography:Bill Gates, the most influential technology entrepreneur of the late 20th century, was the primary author of the prediction-packed 1995 book “The Road Ahead” and is the founder and CEO of Microsoft Corporation. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Publishing
Name of publication: The Road Ahead (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 8: Friction-Free Capitalism
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 163
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne