Lessons from history on technologies such as the metaverse

A VIDEO clip from 1995 has been recirculating in recent months. In it, late-night television host David Letterman is interviewing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates about the Internet. Gates is trying to convince a sceptical Letterman - who did not own a computer - of the use case for the Internet.

Letterman notes that the Internet can broadcast a baseball game, but he wonders why such technology is even needed. "Does radio ring a bell?" he asks, in jest.

Gates replies that the key difference is that the baseball game can also be saved and viewed at a later time. But Letterman still doesn't see what's great about this - tape recorders already perform the same function, he says.