Even The Greats Can Miss!
I'm currently reading a nice little book by Arthur C. Clarke, published back in 1977, titled Profiles of the Future. I found it interesting to read the following in his discussion on what communications satellites will mean for the future:
"Some cynics maintain that the TV relay system is the best argument against space travel that has ever been conceived; they shudder at the thought of hundreds of simultaneous Westerns, thousands of rock-and-rolling disk jockeys. Yet the very profusion of available channels, each capable of being received by most of the human race, will make possible services of a quality and specialized nature quite out of the question today. There are probably enough viewers on Earth to make channels carrying nothing but Greek plays, lectures on symbolic logic, or championship chess matches an economic possibility."
The SciFi Channel did WHAT?
Sir Clarke, I hope you're not spinning too fast in your grave.
"Some cynics maintain that the TV relay system is the best argument against space travel that has ever been conceived; they shudder at the thought of hundreds of simultaneous Westerns, thousands of rock-and-rolling disk jockeys. Yet the very profusion of available channels, each capable of being received by most of the human race, will make possible services of a quality and specialized nature quite out of the question today. There are probably enough viewers on Earth to make channels carrying nothing but Greek plays, lectures on symbolic logic, or championship chess matches an economic possibility."
The SciFi Channel did WHAT?
Sir Clarke, I hope you're not spinning too fast in your grave.