14 years on, Negroponte was right about most things

Tim Burrowes

April 24, 2009 11:21

I love it when people dig up archive TV footage of how people thought the future would look, because it’s always so hilariously wrong.

So I spotted a similar opportunity the other day when I found a copy of Being Digital, “the bestselling road map for survival on the information superhighway” in a second hand book store. At the time it was the book to read if you were a member of the digerati, which I wasn’t, so I didn’t.

But 14 years on, I paid my $7 and got ready to chortle at how Nicholas Negroponte miscast the future of the media.

And here’s the amazing thing. Despite the fact that Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and the rest hadn’t been thought about – even Google was three years from being incorporated – his thoughts have stood the test of time.

Be a member to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Become a member

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.