In gamba ‘sti ammericani. Un’università s’è messa a raccogliere, dal lontano ’90, predizioni sulla rete ed i suoi sviluppi. Spiacente per chi non sa l’inglese ma, detto tra noi: che ci fai in rete? Per chi è ancora all’ascolto, ecco un paio di predizioni spensierate, tra le più vecchie.
Everything from telegraphy and photography in the 19th century to the silicon chip in the 20th has amplified the din of information, until matters have reached such proportions today that for the average person, information no longer has any relation to the solution of problems … Our defenses against information glut have broken down; our information immune system is inoperable. We don’t know how to filter it out; we don’t know how to reduce it; we don’t know to use it. – Neil Postman, 1990
Any future information network will help unhappy people secede, at least mentally, from institutions they do not like, much as the interstate highway system allowed the affluent to flee the cities for the suburbs and exurbs. Prescribing mobility, whether automotive or electronic, as an antidote to society’s fragmentation is like recommending champagne as a hangover remedy. – Edward Tenner, 1994
Ciò detto, cosa facciamo ancora qui? perché non andiamo direttamente ad impiccarci? Ma perché alla rete si possono anche applicare predizioni più ottimistiche, come queste due che seguono.
The Internet will be to women in the ’90s what the vibrator was to women in the ’70s. It’s going to have that power. – Lisa Palac, 1994
I’m looking forward to the day when my daughter finds a rolled-up 1,000-pixel-by-1,000-pixel color screen in her cereal packet, with a magnetic back so it sticks to the fridge. – Tim Berners-Lee, 1995