The other day, I visited the Brattle Bookstore in Boston. I can’t help it, I still enjoy finding books the old fashion way. Anyway, I came across a 15 year old book by Bill Gates. In his book entitled The Road Ahead, published in 1995, Bill Gates said the following about finding homes for sale on the Internet:
“If you put your home on the market, you will be able to describe it fully and include photographs, video, floor plans, tax records, utility and repair bills, even a little mood music. The chances that a potential buyer for your house will see your ad are improved because the information highway will make it easy for anyone to look it up. The whole system of real estate agencies and commissions may be changed by the principals having direct access to so much information.
At first on-line classified ads won’t be very attractive, because not many people will be using them. But then word of mouth by a few satisfied customers will entice more and more users to the service.
There will be a positive feedback loop created as more sellers attract more buyers and vice versa. When a critical mass is achieved, which might be only a year or two after the service is first offered, the information highway’s classified advertising service will be transformed from a curiosity to the primary way private sellers and buyers get together.” (pg 173)
