Another reason why book-based libraries won’t disappear: It’s confusing to do serious research over the network. You can’t browse while looking through the computer’s tiny porthole. I get lost in hyperspace – or is it menuspace? After a few searches and lateral jumps, I’m not sure what data I’m looking at.
Predictor: Stoll, Clifford
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “Silicon Snake Oil,” writer Clifford Stoll shares his take on the Internet’s future implications:”Another reason why book-based libraries won’t disappear: It’s confusing to do serious research over the network. You can’t browse while looking through the computer’s tiny porthole. I get lost in hyperspace – or is it menuspace? After a few searches and lateral jumps, I’m not sure what data I’m looking at.”
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: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Libraries/Databases
Name of publication: Silicon Snake Oil
Title, headline, chapter name: Wherein the Author Considers the Future of the Library, the Myth of Free Information, and a Novel Way to Heat Bathwater
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 184
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Tencer, Elizabeth L.