The pitchman’s hyperbole and the government’s bland assurances alike should tell us that we are being hustled, worked – like a crowd standing in front of the ring-toss stand at a traveling carnival.
Predictor: Maddox, Tom
Prediction, in context:The 1995 book “The Information Revolution,” edited by Donald Altschiller, carries a reprint of the summer 1994, Wilson Quarterly article “The Cultural Consequences of the Information Superhighway” by Tom Maddox. Maddox raises cultural and social issues involved with the Internet. He writes: ”In Business Week, an MCI Telecommunications ad fantastically asserts: ‘The space-time continuum is being challenged. The Notion of communication is changed forever. All the information in the universe will soon be accessible to everyone at every moment.’ All because of a dream known as the information superhighway, and a vision known as network MCI. The pitchman’s hyperbole and the government’s bland assurances alike should tell us that we are being hustled, worked – like a crowd standing in front of the ring-toss stand at a traveling carnival.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Information Revolution (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: The Cultural Consequences of the Information Superhighway
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 196
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne