Paul Graham aka Dr. Emmitt Brown?

Paul Graham’s essay, “The Other Road Ahead” on server-based software is quite ahead of its time. Both he and Robert Morris founded ViaWeb in 1988. ViaWeb developed a server-based software or Application Service Provider (ASP) for online commerce. He predicts that ASP’s “easier, cheaper, more mobile, more reliable, ...powerful [and] convenient” facets will make it the future model upon which software is developed.

As a server-based model, it will afford the user a cheaper way to access software. Instead of paying for software that must be installed onto a user’s computer, the user will gain access via web browser with the software incorporated into it. Not only does the user not have to buy desktop client software but doesn’t have to install or update applications as well. Users would be able to go to any computer and access the ASP’s software (via web-browser) thus making it a much more mobile platform. As Graham describes, the responsibility of having to update software is placed in the hands of a qualified technician rather than the average user - naturally, the overall reliability is increased. All these facets make it a convenient way for users to interact with the software. Graham believes that this will be the make or break factor of ASP platforms.
I don’t know how Graham’s article was received at the time of its publishing, but his ideas describe almost word for word what is happening. Graham sold ViaWeb to Yahoo a couple years after it was released – a very big paycheck for such a small startup. I bet the first thing he did was buy a Delorian.