Too much access. By all means let脮s not provide our electronic networks with too much access. That might get dangerous. The networks might rot people脮s minds and corrupt their family values … It脮s cultural struggle, political struggle, legal struggle. Extending the public right-to-know into cyberspace will be a mighty battle. It脮s an old war, a war librarians are used to, and I honor you for the free-expression battles you have won in the past. But the terrain of cyberspace is new terrain. I think that ground will have to be won all over again, megabyte by megabyte.
Predictor: Sterling, Bruce
Prediction, in context:In his speech “Free as Air, Free as Water, Free as Knowledge,” carried in the publication of presentations made at the 1992 Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) conference in Chicago, Bruce Sterling writes: ”Here脮s the President of the United States speaking at a library in 1890. ‘The boy who greedily devours the vicious tales of imaginary daring and blood-curdling adventure, which in these days are far too accessible, will have his brain filled with notions of life and standards of manliness which, if they do not make him a menace to peace and good order, will certainly not make him a useful member of society.’ Grover Cleveland hit the nail on the head. I feel very strongly, I feel instinctively, I feel passionately that I am one of those nails … I have become a menace to Grover Cleveland脮s idea of peace and good order. Far too accessible, eh, Mr. President? Too much access. By all means let脮s not provide our electronic networks with too much access. That might get dangerous. The networks might rot people脮s minds and corrupt their family values. They might create bad taste. Do you think this electrical network thing is a new social problem? Think again … Weird ideas are tolerable as long as they remain weird ideas. Once they start actually challenging the world, there脮s smoke in the air and blood on the floor. You cybernetic LITA guys are marching toward blood on the floor. It脮s cultural struggle, political struggle, legal struggle. Extending the public right-to-know into cyberspace will be a mighty battle. It脮s an old war, a war librarians are used to, and I honor you for the free-expression battles you have won in the past. But the terrain of cyberspace is new terrain. I think that ground will have to be won all over again, megabyte by megabyte.”
Biography:Bruce Sterling, a writer, consultant and science fiction enthusiast, wrote or co-wrote “Schismatrix,” “The Hacker Crackdown” and “The Difference Engine” and edited “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology.” In the 1990s, he wrote tech articles for Fortune, Harper’s, Details, Whole Earth Review and Wired, where he was a contributing writer from its founding. He published the nonfiction book “Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years” in 2002. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1992
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Libraries/Databases
Name of publication: Thinking Robots, An Aware Internet, and Cyberpunk Librarians.
Title, headline, chapter name: Free As Air, Free As Water, Free As Knowledge
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 30
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Garrison, Betty