A variety of business trends extrapolated

Source: Nov 2, 1998   |   Report On Business magazine

Current Status: Uncertain

While writing for this magazine I ventured into forecasting, which I have otherwise avoided, due to the format. Some were fair, such as Xerox was in danger of blowing its early lead in e-ink technology, which had strong market potential; and traditional newspapers and radio being more likely than other media to lose listeners/ad share to converging media technology. Others were less so: that we would likely have a major flu outbreak by now [more scares than andemics so far]. Others seem just plain embarrassing with hindsight: we could soon have low-cost LCDs and transistor in footwear or jackets or a biotech startup would rise to Microsoft's size and stature. Fortunately these last are not online. But in the interest of humiliating myself before others get there first, I submit them as lessons learned.