In its October '94 issue, MacWorld magazine asked a reasonable question: What do consumers want on the infobahn? To find an answer, they surveyed 600 adults by phone, asking them to measure their interests in various proposed services, and to state which ones they would be willing to pay US$10 per month to get. The results of this survey were surprising, if not disturbing. Ranked from highest interest to lowest, MacWorld's list shows that entertainment-based services - video-on-demand, gambling - are not the killer applications everyone expected. Instead the masses are craving ... electronic voting and digital school!
Our take on this is that MacWorld got it backward. High-minded activities, such as obtaining legislative records or searching the card catalogs of libraries, sound worthy and uplifting. It's what most people think they should want to do. But judging from what people really do once they get onto the Net, we just have to flip MacWorld's list upside down. Read in reverse, with no other alterations, this list now makes perfect sense. What are people really going to use the infobahn for? Sex, gambling, fun with role playing, sports, and chat groups. Oh yeah, and every now and then they'll take a few minutes to vote.
MacWorld
What people think they want to do on the infobahn:
Vote in elections
Search reference books
Take courses
Obtain local school information
Search card catalogs
Participate in opinion polls
Obtain government information
Get video-on-demand
Search magazines/newspapers
Search legal/scientific/medical journals
Obtain legislative voting records
Obtain local crime information
Obtain proposed laws, regulations
Send video/text e-mail to officials
Obtain industry legal-compliance data
Obtain public records
Conduct video telephony/conferencing
Conduct video or text discussion groups
Obtain local event/marketing info
Sports video-on-demand
Obtain sports statistics
Have role-playing interactions
Gamble
Date by video
Wired
What people really want to do on the infobahn:
Date by video
Gamble
Have role-playing interactions
Obtain sports statistics
Get sports video-on-demand
Obtain local event/marketing info
Conduct video or text discussion groups
Conduct video telephony/conferencing
Obtain public records
Obtain industry legal-compliance data
Send video/text e-mail to officials
Obtain proposed laws, regulations
Obtain local crime information
Obtain legislative voting records
Search legal/scientific/medical journals
Search magazines/newspapers
Get video-on-demand
Obtain government information
Participate in opinion polls
Search card catalogs
Obtain local school information
Take courses
Search reference books
Vote in elections
ELECTRIC WORD
What People Really Want on the Net
