Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee. No interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert. And who’d prefer cybersex to the real thing? While the Internet beckons brightly, seductively flashing an icon of knowledge-as-power, this nonplace lures us to surrender our time on earth. A poor substitute it is, this virtual reality where frustration is legion and where – in the holy names of Education and Progress – important aspects of human interactions are relentlessly devalued.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Newsweek, Clifford Stoll, author of the book “Silicon Snake Oil,” a cautionary look at the impact of computers and the Internet, writes: ”What the Internet hucksters won’t tell you is that the Internet is an ocean of unedited data, without any pretense of completeness. Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland of unfiltered data … What’s missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities. Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee. No interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert. And who’d prefer cybersex to the real thing? While the Internet beckons brightly, seductively flashing an icon of knowledge-as-power, this nonplace lures us to surrender our time on earth. A poor substitute it is, this virtual reality where frustration is legion and where – in the holy names of Education and Progress – important aspects of human interactions are relentlessly devalued.”
Biography:Clifford Stoll was an astrophysicist who also wrote the influential books “Silicon Snake Oil” (1995) and “The Cuckoo’s Egg.” A long-time network user, Stoll made “Silicon Snake Oil” his platform for finding fault with the Internet hype of the early 1990s. He pointed out the pitfalls of a completely networked society and offered arguments in opposition to the hype. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: February 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: Shopping
Name of publication: Newsweek
Title, headline, chapter name: The Internet? Bah! Why Cyberspace isn’t and Never Will Be Nirvana
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=52da77815d5cde87ee28054dc52fda65&_docnum=7&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlAl&_md5=1d21907b93b3954deec2ef208ffe260c
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney