— 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.

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