I was a kid in the 90's so I remember keenly the unmistakeable technological shift. People started saying "information highway" an awful lot. And I remember the first time me and my friend used dial up networking to play Doom 2, and I could see his character's movements on my screen in realtime, and I thought, "I am living in the future."

wasn't it "information SUPER-highway"? :)

When I was in 6th grade (~1993), someone's dad came to talk about our class about the "superhighway of information" or the "information highway". It always bugged me that he didn't say "information superhighway".

It always bugged me EVERY time ANYONE every used the term "Information Superhighway" -- and still does.

Marketing people make me want to puke -- that's where terminology like that comes from. Just call it the internet and be done with it already!

Oh, and get off my lawn! xD

Does anyone still use "Information Superhighway" anymore? I think most people just say "internet".

However in the 90's that analogy helped many non-technical people understand how to think about the internet. Back then did you have a better analogy?

BTW, as a marketing guy, it always bugs me every time anyone uses the term "marketing" when they mean "advertising". I'm not referring to you/your post but rather a general trend on HN and elsewhere.

When I throw darts at marketing, I mean marketing, not advertising. I know the difference. Nice try though, marketing guy.

As long as you know the difference you can throw all the darts you want.

It makes me think of watching Zoom on PBS as a little kid. Ask your parents before going online!

Well, they were both designed with nukes in mind :)

you mean the World Wide Web right? The internet is just the backbone.

> will just be mainstream in the next 2 decades

Robotic manufacturing and inventory management (and not just by Toyota and Amazon, nearly all manufacturers and retailers). Productivity related drones. Virtual reality. Artificial intelligence that is very difficult to do without for consumers and businesses (so much so, that the UN will declare it a human right to have access to various AI systems 20 years from now). Commercialized therapies that use CRISPR. Routine tissue repair via stem-cell therapy. Routine organ growing & replacement for less complex organs. Immune system regeneration for those with compromised immune systems. M.S., Parkinson's, alzheimer's, diabetes, HIV, will all be cured except for edge cases (might be closer to 30 years, but some of those will get knocked out in 20, HIV for example).

Indeed. At university in the late 90s. Most people didn't have a PC. Then Napster. Then almost everyone did within the space of 3 years. Lots of tipping points happened.

So perhaps something similar - a tipping point of convenience. What's now on the edge, but could really change a consumption habit? Holograms? 3D printing?