— So, on the future of the Internet.
Simon, you’re in computers.
Will the Internet take over the world?
— It’s already taken over the world.
The question is what will it do next?
— So, what’s your prediction?
— In the next fifty years
we’ll all be using the Internet
for all correspondence. Snail mail will have
disappeared, apart from courier services
for sending official documents.
— And what about books and reading?
— In twenty years’ time I expect that
ninety per cent of books and documents
will be downloaded from the Internet.
Computers will have become so fast
that you will be able to download
a complete book in a few minutes.
And when you’ve read it
you will be able to throw it away.
— So, what will happen
to the publishing industry?
— By the year two thousand one hundred
all publishing will have
become electronic. The only print
publishing will be art editions
of famous books
like Shakespeare’s plays.