The prediction, in brief:

We’re actually getting fairly close to [having a comprehensive all-in-one front end to the Internet] already, and I think, over time, it’s going to get a lot more coherent. I think the applications of something like Netscape to internal networks and to corporate-wide LANs are at least as interesting as applied to the Internet as a whole.

Predictor: Andreessen, Marc

Prediction, in context:

Thom Stark conducted an interview with Marc Andreessen for his “Marc Andreessen Interview Page” in 1995. In the interview, Andreessen said:”There’s always been this traditional view that you’re going to have 15 different applications for the Internet, but, essentially, the programs that people use these days, as far as I can tell, are a browser, like Netscape, and an e-mail program and maybe Telnet. So, I think we’re actually getting fairly close to [having a comprehensive all-in-one front end to the Internet] already, and I think, over time, it’s going to get a lot more coherent. I think the applications of something like Netscape to internal networks and to corporate-wide LANs are at least as interesting as applied to the Internet as a whole. You could recast that statement as a kind of universal interface to information resources on networks.”

Biography:

Marc Andreessen worked with Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1992, to develop a browser that would be usable on any computer, easy to use and graphically rich. In 1993, their browser, Mosaic, completely changed the face of the Internet Ð it allowed HTML “image” tags which make it so text and art can appear on the same page; it allowed easy text scrolling; and it introduced hyperlinks, allowing users to simply click on an area of the screen to go to another document on the Internet. In1994, Mosaic was developed and marketed; the product eventually was named Netscape. (Pioneer/Originator.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure

Subtopic: Language/Interface/Software

Title, headline, chapter name: The Marc Andreessen Interview Page

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://users.rcn.com/thomst/marca.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Allen, Patrick J.