The Internet's emergence into mainstream consciousness in 1995 was met no small amount of skepticism and eye-rolling. It was all overhyped, critics said. A distraction.
Notable among the skeptics was astrophysicist Clifford Stoll whose 1995 book, Silicon Snake Oil, offered such predictions about the digital world as:
“I don't believe that phone books, newspapers, magazines, or corner video stores will disappear as computer networks spread. Nor do I think that my telephone will merge with my computer, to become some sort of information appliance.”
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