This is a surprising thing to see written in 1964: "Given the advanced state of development of present communications lines, it is unlikely that information ut

This is a surprising thing to see written in 1964: "Given the advanced state of development of present communications lines, it is unlikely that information utilities will wish to invest in their own communication networks. This may be taken as an argument against the necessity for stifling free competition and placing information utilities under public regulation; yet, there is another massive investment that the information utilities will not be able to sidestep as easily, if at all -- namely, investment in the large programming systems required to supervise the operation of the information utility and provide its services. The information utility should be able to shift part of this burden to the shoulders of its customers, but it will have to bear responsibility itself for the design, maintenance, and modification of the core of the programming system. The vast potential magnitude of this system, plus the fact that its usefulness may not extend beyond the physical machinery for which it was constructed, plus the possibility of programming waste from having too many entries in the field, may tip the balance in favor of a regulated monopoly." They foresaw much of the current debate regarding the market power of cloud providers such as Amazon, and how much government regulation is needed. And note that this bit was written before credit cards had become commonplace in the USA (and at a time when debit cards were wholly unknown): "Suppose, for example, that businesses of all sizes have simple terminals linking them electronically to a central information exchange. Then each business can make instantaneous credit checks and offer its customers the convenience of universal credit cards. These cards, referred to by some as "money keys." together with the simple terminals and information exchange, can all but eliminate the need for currency, checks, cash registers, sales slips, and making change. "