Internet predictions from 1995

I remember the Internet in 1995. I was there, working, learning, building the inter-weeb. Yes, still a young pup, who learned his first Unix in 1992, I was deep in the ISP trenches in 1995. Some of these predictions are pretty amusing. But what I'm happiest about right now is that the following didn't come to pass:

Predictions:

• Within the next three years, everyone from AT& T to Sony to your cable company will offer on-line dating, electronic gambling, video on demand, and role-playing games via a set-top box. That's the Information Superhighway everyone wants!
• In five years, prices on those set-top boxes will drop dramatically as vendors learn that their services are way too expensive and that people don't like getting information from their TVs. Ever heard of VideoTex? No? My point exactly.
• In five-and-a-half years, when people still aren't buying set-top boxes, 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."
• The Information Superhighway as delivered via set-top boxes will die forever; a good idea gone awry (gone the way of Betamax); 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.
• None of the set-top cable services will ever replace the Internet.

Joel Snyder
(jms@opus1.com)

Yup, if this stuff was true, I'd be out of a job! Whew!