It’s going to reach the same amount of people that the current mass media reach. But it has totally different properties than any of the previous mass media. The big impact that the Net’s going to have on culture in general is that it will allow it to become a lot more fragmented … I think that’s positive. It increases choice and diversity. It means that you can go find the stuff that you really think is interesting as opposed to the stuff that you’re forced to be spoon-fed because there’s nothing else out there.
Predictor: Andreessen, Marc
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Rolling Stone magazine, J.C. Herz interviews Marc Andreessen, an originator of the Mosaic browser and co-founder of Netscape Communications, at his Netscape offices in Mountainview, Calif. Following is an excerpt of the conversation: Herz: “You talk about the Net as a mass medium in the same breath that you say, ‘Well, this is a niche medium.'” Andreessen: “It’s a mass medium but in a new sense. The reason I say mass medium is became it’s going to reach the same amount of people that the current mass media reach. But it has totally different properties than any of the previous mass media. The big impact that the Net’s going to have on culture in general is that it will allow it to become a lot more fragmented … I think that’s positive. It increases choice and diversity. It means that you can go find the stuff that you really think is interesting as opposed to the stuff that you’re forced to be spoon-fed because there’s nothing else out there.”
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: November 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Rolling Stone
Title, headline, chapter name: Netscape’s Co-Inventor Charts the Digital Future: What a Wonderful Web it Could Be
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web18.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=dbs+0%2C1+ln+en%2Dus+sid+533727BE%2D85B5%2D4391%2D8E78%2DDD2AD20C349A%40Sessionmgr6+5438&_us=bs+TI++netscape%27s++co%2Dinventor++charts++the++digital++future+ds+TI++netscape%27s++co%2Dinventor++charts++the++digital++future+dstb+ES+fh+0+gl+SO++%22rolling++stone%22+hd+0+hs+0+or+Date+ri+KAAACB1B00245053+sm+ES+ss+SO+8FC9&fn=1&rn=1
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Garrison, Betty