Networking is subversive, and that’s why the Chinese don’t like it.
Predictor: Quarterman, John S.
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for The New York Times, Peter Lewis covers the potential for the Internet as a communications tool for oppressed people, quoting John Quarterman, an Internet consultant from Austin, Texas. He writes: ”Quarterman says more than 40 million computer users worldwide can exchange e-mail. Using his computer to explore the Internet backwaters, Mr. Quarterman found only one site in Africa between Cairo and Cape Town, and no sites in Iran. In all of China, he has found only one, a commercial venture in Shanghai. ‘Networking is subversive, and that’s why the Chinese don’t like it,’ Mr. Quarterman said. But he added that there might be some electronic exchange across the Chinese border – ‘given the changing political tide and economic conditions, especially Hong Kong.’ He also noted that Internet traffic into and out of Vietnam has surged since the United States lifted its trade embargo.”
Biography:John S. Quarterman was a founder of Matrix.Net, Inc., formerly known as Matrix Information and Directory Services (MIDS), established in 1990. Matrix.Net began monitoring the Internet in 1993, publishing the statistics on the Web beginning in 1995 in what was called the “Internet Weather Report.” Quarterman published the first maps of the whole Internet; many appeared in Matrix Maps Quarterly and elsewhere. He conducted the first demographic survey of the Internet. Matrix News, which he started in 1991, was the earliest continuing commercial newsletter published over the Internet. He wrote “The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide” (Digital Press, 1990). (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: On the Internet, Dissidents’ Shots Heard ‘Round the World
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=75cc536da274a2bb21cc43d8766d9658&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlzV&_md5=f2c11f20d896095f4ba0f26c19e6f891
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney