In 1934 Northwestern University Predicted Learning Via The Internet

The Internet

online 1963

 

Who foresaw the internet? Thank to Paleofuture, we know it to be Walter Dill Scott. In this 1934 article for Everyday Science and Mechanics magazine. Scott peered into the rosy-fingered future. With radio, fax machines, TVs and pictures, students could learn anywhere. As the mag noted:

The university of twenty-five years from now will be a different looking place, says President Scott of Northwestern. Instead of concentrating faculty and students around a campus, they will “commute” by air, and the university will be surrounded by airports and hangars. The course will be carried on, to a large extent, by radio and pictures. Facsimile broadcasting and television will enlarge greatly the range of a library; and research may be carried on by scholars at great distances.

The flying car. Always the flying car. But largely Scott was prescient.

 

Would you like to support Flashbak?

Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.