Let's say it's 1994. You've fallen in love with this crazy Internet thing. You've found a secret crystal ball. What the heck, you figure, why not make a few predictions as well as point out what was really cool and what really didn't float your web boat.
Seth Godin does good work in kicking this ball around the circle.
Here are a few of my favorite predictions from this report:
- Yikes, where's my Net leader?: "UFOs will make contact with the Internet."
- Shhh, don't tell Google I wanna go to Fiji: "The first intelligent agent software packages will emerge, allowing Net users to ask for a specific piece of information like "What is the population of Fiji?" or "How far is Saturn from the Sun?" An agent will go out on the Net , find the information, and return it without the user knowing the source."
- Holy YouTube, Batman: "Vendors will realize that it wasn't because of high prices, rather that people don't want to gamble, date, or watch videos "on demand.""
- No more Superhighway?: "...unless someone figures out what people really want, such as the ability to search reference works, participate in distance learning, search the holdings at the local library, and practice electronic democracy.
Anyone up for predicting dem wacky aliens will do a little tete-a-tete with Google in the next year or ten, while offering up the YouTube video feed and try this quirky little "distance learning" thing with your favorite space traveler du jour?
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