Commercialization of the Net is going to mean that investment is going to flow into it to expand the infrastructure, far in excess of what would have been possible otherwise. Because all these activities can take place in parallel, and because they enrich one another, the presence of the educational activities enhances the availability of the commercial services and vice versa. The whole thing should just spiral upward … The educational opportunities will be far greater than they would be in the absence of commercialization.
Predictor: Andreessen, Marc
Prediction, in context:The following was taken from a transcript of a 1995 video interview of Marc Andreessen, conducted for the Smithsonian Institution by David K. Allison, curator of the division of information technology and society at the National Museum of American History: ”Allison: How do you see the educational side of the Internet evolving? Will it get crowded out by the commercial side? Will the educational coexist peaceably with the commercial?” ”Andreessen: … The good thing about the Net environment is that the more content that appears, the more that happens; the richer the environment gets, the more powerful it becomes for everyone. Particularly the impact of commercialization of the Net is going to mean that investment is going to flow into it to expand the infrastructure, far in excess of what would have been possible otherwise. Because all these activities can take place in parallel, and because they enrich one another, the presence of the educational activities enhances the availability of the commercial services and vice versa. The whole thing should just spiral upward. Basically that’s how the environment should work and how I think it will work. The infrastructure does take a lot of funding. It doesn’t just appear by itself. Among other things the commercialization is absolutely going to guarantee that the Net will be there. The educational opportunities will be far greater than they would be in the absence of commercialization.”
Biography:Marc Andreessen worked with Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1992, to develop a browser that would be usable on any computer, easy to use and graphically rich. In 1993, their browser, Mosaic, completely changed the face of the Internet Ð it allowed HTML “image” tags which make it so text and art can appear on the same page; it allowed easy text scrolling; and it introduced hyperlinks, allowing users to simply click on an area of the screen to go to another document on the Internet. In1994, Mosaic was developed and marketed; the product eventually was named Netscape. (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: June 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Cost/Pricing
Name of publication: Smithsonian Institution Oral and Video Histories
Title, headline, chapter name: Marc Andreessen
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/comphist/ma1.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Allen, Patrick J.