The prediction, in brief:

With the 4 million people using national services such as America Online and an estimated 17 million bulletin board system (BBS) users nationwide slowly being introduced to the Internet, that spells potential disaster for traditionalists, said Jack Rickard, editor of the magazine Boardwatch.

Predictor: Rickard, Jack

Prediction, in context:

In a 1994 article for The Denver Post, Dan Pacheco writes about the Internet’s threat to old-fashioned Net bulletin boards, quoting Jack Rickard, editor and publisher of the industry publication Boardwatch. Pacheco writes:”Local experts say that bulletin boards and computer systems hooking up to the Internet are changing the nature of a place deemed hallowed by some … According to The New York Times, at the beginning of July close to 25 million people were using the Internet worldwide, up from 15 million last year. With the 4 million people using national services such as America Online and an estimated 17 million bulletin board system (BBS) users nationwide slowly being introduced to the Internet, that spells potential disaster for traditionalists, said Jack Rickard, editor of the magazine Boardwatch. ‘There are some incredible cultural clashes going on,’ said Rickard, from his Littleton office. In one case, an open Internet area for physicists was overrun by 140,000 12-year-olds talking about ‘Star Trek.’ The professionals responded by leaving the group and creating a private, invitation-only e-mail conference, he said. ‘There are some Usenet news groups that have basically been ruined,’ he said.”

Biography:

Jack Rickard, the editor/publisher of Boardwatch Magazine, the magazine of the 1990s home-grown BBS industry, was also co-founder of the Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON). (Pioneer/Originator.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1994

Topic of prediction: Community/Culture

Subtopic: MOOs/MUDs/B-Boards/Newsgroups

Name of publication: Denver Post

Title, headline, chapter name: Fast Growth Spells Trouble for Internet Traditionalists

Quote Type: Paraphrase

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=005d7e1a5469cfd64810db9f67ddf47b&_docnum=4&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlzV&_md5=c09bfc121782089a15a1684c27c6d024

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Schmidt, Nicholas