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The Decline of E-Empires (Paul Krugman)

• pyalot2 13y ago
  "The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in "Metcalfe's law"–which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants–becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine's." Paul Krugman, 1998
  • tzs 13y ago
    Adjusted for inflation, I would not at all be surprised if that was right. The FAX machine was a critical business tool for a large fraction of businesses for a very long time.
    • pyalot2 13y ago
      If you turn off everybodies fax machines right now, it's a bit of an inconvenience. If you turn the internet off right now, it's a major global disaster impacting the economy as well as every other activity of modern societies. Adjusted for inflation, I'd say people do have something to say to each other, as well as that the economic, social and otherwise impact of the internet is enormous. Ironically, this written on the internet...