The History of the Future

Ever wondered how we got here? Who recommended what, and when? Who said mobile phones were the future, and narrowband was out?

Ross Ferguson, Interactive Services Manager at the Central Office of Information and prolific blogger on all sorts of media and public sector related subjects, has very kindly compiled an extremely comprehensive list of almost every paper worth reading on the government’s digital engagement policies dating back to 2001.

Click here to read the list.

It’s definitely worth a browse, if for no other reason than to check the accuracy of the predictions. Hopefully none quite so misplaced as this from Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977:

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

image by archie2