Back in high school, I owned a computer. It was from the cutting edge of technology, which put power into the hands of people who didn't know what to do with the power that was put into their hands. Commissioned periodically to generate letters, papers, and the occasional resume, my glorious Mac Plus stared menacingly at me from the uncharted realms of my desk, where, for seven years, it gathered more dust than data.
Last August, all of that changed. I got back in touch with an old friend and started exchanging some creative ideas, which inevitably led to a discussion of nouveau technology. He surreptitiously suppressed his guffaws at the mention of an embarrassing realm of stone-age electronics I was immersed in. He also suggested taking a gander at a new publication called - what was it? Plugged In? Turned On? Tuned In? Ah yes, Wired!
Four months later, I am a full-time subscriber, owner of a Centris 650 with CD-ROM drive, ethnomusicologist, and film student candidate with grand ambitions to blow the doors off contemporary concepts of interactive art. When I page through your mag, I get that nervously excited feeling that compels me to head for the crapper where I spend the next hour exploring the silent revolution that is rocking our world. Where had I been all this time? Congratulations on a stunning and compelling publication.
Freedom of expression! Freedom of speech! Free access to information! It's time to make the world a smaller place!
Wade Patterson
Austin, Texas
RANTS & RAVES
Free At Last
