Home computers and gambling are a frightening combination.
Predictor: Schwartz, Evan I.
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article on online gambling for Wired magazine, Evan Schwartz quotes Harvard professor Howard Shaffer. Schwartz writes: ”Some industry observers are worried … Associate Professor Howard Shaffer, director of the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School, believes that gambling is ‘a serious public health issue,’ especially among the young who find ways to play lotteries, bet on horses, and wager on sporting events. He fears that new technologies, such as the Internet, will lead to widespread gambling among minors, even though all the operators of cybercasinos say they will not open accounts to bettors who are underage. Home computers and gambling, he warns, are a frightening combination.”
Biography:Evan Schwartz was a 1990s journalist with a computer science degree who covered information technology. He was a former editor at Business Week, where he covered software and digital media and was part of teams that won a National Magazine Award and a Computer Press Award. He also wrote for the New York Times, Wired, and MIT’s Technology Review. His books include “Webonomics” and “Digital Darwinism.” (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: October 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: Gambling
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Wanna Bet?
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/collections/internet_law/3.10_gambling_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stotler, Larry