Computer networks, it is held, are instruments of liberty that allow people to communicate laterally, thereby breaking down the hierarchies of governments and corporations alike. The resulting vision is actually similar to that of Adam Smith, who thought of the market as a vast network of artisans and entrepreneurs and who had little or no inkling of the large, bureaucratic corporation … The actual evidence, such as it is, points largely in the other direction: computer networks decentralize organization (in the sense of operational decision-making) while simultaneously increasing the power of corporate central management.
Predictor: Agre, Phil
Prediction, in context:The August 1994 issue of The Network Observer, an online newsletter, carries an article titled “The New Politics of Technology in the U.S.” by Phil Agre, TNO editor, who was, at the time, working in the Department of Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. Agre writes:”Computer networks, it is held, are instruments of liberty that allow people to communicate laterally, thereby breaking down the hierarchies of governments and corporations alike. The resulting vision is actually similar to that of Adam Smith, who thought of the market as a vast network of artisans and entrepreneurs and who had little or no inkling of the large, bureaucratic corporation … The actual evidence, such as it is, points largely in the other direction: computer networks decentralize organization (in the sense of operational decision-making) while simultaneously increasing the power of corporate central management.”
Biography:Phillip E. Agre was an associate professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been the author of research studies on the Internet. He edited The Network Observer, an online newsletter on Internet issues. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: The Network Observer
Title, headline, chapter name: The New Politics of Technology in the U.S.
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/tno/april-1994.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne