Everyone should take ownership of that space … space like that is harder and harder to find. Sometimes it might be taken over by gangs or it might not be taken care of by the city. With computers, you can form a virtual space, a cyberspace where people can come to meet and discuss things.
Predictor: Shaw, Alan
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article in NetGuide, a number of individuals were honored as “The Tomorrow Makers,” including Alan Shaw, at the time an MIT graduate student who had created a miniature computer network to unite an urban neighborhood. In the article, Grant Fjermedal writes: ”When Alan Shaw looks into the future, he see mini-nets, small virtual villages that aim to unite individuals in a real-world community … ‘One of the big problems in the bigger cities is the lack of connection with your next-door neighbor. Why is it that people who live right next to each other don’t perform the kind of activities or create the organizations that defined the tightly knit neighborhoods of the past?’ [Shaw says] part of the reason is the lack of common ground, the ‘commons,’ as shared town squares are often called. ‘Everyone should take ownership of that space,’ Shaw explains. ‘But space like that is harder and harder to find. Sometimes it might be taken over by gangs or it might not be taken care of by the city. With computers, you can form a virtual space, a cyberspace where people can come to meet and discuss things.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Virtual Communities
Name of publication: NetGuide
Title, headline, chapter name: The Tomorrow Makers
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://weblinks1.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=dbs+0+ln+en%2Dus+sid+140392B7%2DB8CB%2D4B70%2DB4CD%2D9F1B2D834324%40Sessionmgr2+F597&_uh=btn+N+idb+f5hish+jdb+f5hjnh+op+phrase+ss+ID++NTG+B8B9&_us=bs+JN++%22NetGuide%22++and++DT++19950101+ds+JN++%22NetGuide%22++and++DT++19950101+dstb+KS+fcl+Aut+ri+KAAACBZD00002054+sm+KS+EE87&cf=1&fn=11&rn=18
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney