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Gates favored an approach he (and others) referred to as the information superhighway vs the post 1980s modern Internet. He regarded the Internet as a precursor
by adventured 4y ago
Gates favored an approach he (and others) referred to as the information superhighway vs the post 1980s modern Internet. He regarded the Internet as a precursor to what he called the information superhighway in the book.
It's not that he didn't see something equivalent to the Internet happening, he disagreed with exactly how it would look (who would own/control it is more likely what he had in mind given the context; I think he wanted a more closed off network that companies like Microsoft could thoroughly dominate).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Ahead_(Gates_book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Ahead_(Gates_book)
- doctor_eval 4y agoHe absolutely wanted a closed, proprietary network, and that’s also what he built: MSN. But it didn’t work, so they recycled the name into the MSN we know today. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Dial-up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Dial-up
- spookthesunset 4y agoWhich of course got commingled with “Live”, MSN the dialup, “MSNBC”, and even active desktop (IIRC)… probably way more I’m forgetting too.
- doctor_eval 4y agoI’d forgotten all that stuff. It’s weird, they usually can’t keep the name of their products the same for more than a couple of years at a time, but this one lasted decades for some reason.