Programmers are harnessing the power of cyberspace – to help businesses and consumers meet in an electronic marketplace and to create the information systems for the virtual corporations – and communities – of the 21st century. The players that come up with these programs could wind up at the head of a new world order – where computing, entertainment, and communciations merge. “It’s like the land rush in Oklahoma. The best spot in the valley goes to the one who gets there first.”
Predictor: Ellison, Larry
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for BusinessWeek magazine, Amy Cortese interviews Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO. Cortese writes: ”The great cyberspace software race has begun. At giant corporations and in basements, the brightest minds in software are working on programs that will make it possible to move vast amounts of digital information, distribute it efficiently to the correct addresses, and make it all simple enough for nontechies to manage. From simple graphical interfaces to such cutting-edge concepts as software agents, programmers are harnessing the power of cyberspace – to help businesses and consumers meet in an electronic marketplace and to create the information systems for the virtual corporations – and communities – of the 21st century. The players that come up with these programs could wind up at the head of a new world order – where computing, entertainment, and communciations merge. ‘It’s like the land rush in Oklahoma,’ says Lawrence J. Ellison, chairman of Oracle Corp., the No. 2 software maker. ‘The best spot in the valley goes to the one who gets there first.’ Ellison, who has launched ambitious efforts to develop software for everything from serving up video on demand to home shopping and information searching, is determined to get there before No. 1 Microsoft Corp. And Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates III is just as determined to extend his software reign into the Information Superhighway era. Microsoft is spending more than $150 million a year on developing all sorts of software for entertainment and information networks.”
Biography:Larry Ellison was the founder of Oracle and a leading entrepreneur in the 1990s. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: BusinessWeek
Title, headline, chapter name: Crafting Software That Will Let You Build a Business Out There
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 34
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney