A gift economy outside a small tribal setting doesn’t work, period. The idea that the Net was, is, or can be a gift economy is the real nonsense in this discussion.
Predictor: Rossetto, Louis
Prediction, in context:In his 2003 book about Wired magazine, “Wired: A Romance,” former Wired staffer Gary Wolf quotes a 1995 e-mail publisher Louis Rossetto sent out to employees of the magazine’s spin-off Web site Hotwired. The e-mail was sent in defense of Rossetto’s view that Hotwired should retain its user-registration requirement for readers of the online site. Some employees of Hotwired opposed it because it cut across the “traditional” values of a free and open Internet and seemed to contradict the Wired philosophy. Rossetto steadfastly defended the use of registration in personal conversations and in an e-mail missive in which he writes: ”A gift economy outside a small tribal setting doesn’t work, period. The idea that the Net was, is, or can be a gift economy is the real nonsense in this discussion.”
Biography:Louis Rossetto was the CEO and co-founder of Wired Ventures Inc. in the 1990s. He was the founding publisher and editor of Wired magazine and its online spin-off, HotWired. Wired magazine incredibly influential from its beginning in 1993, illuminating for a large audience, the most important issues of the Internet age. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Economic structures
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Wired: A Romance
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 8: Carl
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 127
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney