__ Rants & Raves __
__ 82 Reasons Too Many __
"83 Reasons Why Bill Gates's Reign Is Over" (Wired 6.12, page 194) was right on the money. As a 15-year programming veteran, all I need is one reason: Nothing has done more to cripple the evolution of the personal computer than Windows. As any software engineer will tell you, Windows (NT 4.0 also) is simply junk, and crucial systems cannot be run using it.
__ Christian Eidsmoe
chreid@safeco.com __
__ First and Last __
Several days ago a friend noticed that I was reading a magazine from back to front. Later, when I received my December Wired in the mail, I realized that I have been guilty of this habit for the past six years.
Nicholas Negroponte has been the thought-provoking front door to Wired since I first discovered this publication. He has helped us find not only some of the answers to how we embrace this new world, but also some very important questions. I don't know quite how I will start to read Wired 7.01, but I sincerely hope someone holds Negroponte to his promise of not straying too far.
__ Scott Gamble
bsgamble@ix.netcom.com __
__ Government Tools __
In "83 Reasons Why Bill Gates's Reign Is Over" I noticed the following in Reason 56: "[Microsoft's] presence is big and heavy, like the Pentagon's. But massiveness doesn't make you feel good about paying $700 for a toilet seat." Then I remembered an interesting item on page 128 of "Wired Tools," which happens to be a $699 toilet seat ("Bottom Line," Wired 6.12). Synchronicity.
__ Bob Hays
rhays@interaccess.com __
__ Macrosoft __
Compliments to Wired on a well-researched article. I guess the folks at Microsoft have their work cut out in order to prove you wrong. By coincidence, in the book The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers, I found this: "What is bloated beyond its proportions inevitably collapses. The mind must not wander from goal to goal, or be distracted by success from its sense of purpose and proportion. What is concentrated, coherent, and connected to its past has power. What is dissipated, divided, and distended rots and falls to the ground. The bigger it bloats, the harder it falls."
__ Alan B. Scholl
scholla@candw.ag __
__ The Vision Thing __
People have been writing Bill Gates's epitaph for years. But he's still around. Now, Wired has jumped on the bandwagon. To paraphrase another famous failed Wired prediction: Push technology will drastically alter the way that you use the Web. Give it up, Wired. Soothsayers you ain't.
__ Jeremy Fischer
jeremyfischer@hotmail.com __
__ Running on Empty __
While I enjoyed "83 Reasons Why Bill Gates's Reign Is Over," the real number of substantive reasons was more like 10. Most could be applied to anyone successful in the software business, and many were simply duplicative. Several, while humorous, were without substance or merit. It appears as if the initial goal in writing the piece was to have a "101 Reasons" article, but after about 10 or 15, someone ran out of gas. As a cover cutline, "10 Reasons" just has no ring to it. But the piece was definitely thought-provoking!
__ Darrell Owen
darrell_owen@msn.com __
__ Caveat Vendor __
Scott Kirsner's "Murder by Internet" (Wired 6.12, page 210), details a rather disturbing scenario. Conducting business - online or off - has consequences, especially if your intent is to scam people. As 17-year-old Chris Marquis discovered, the Internet is not the completely anonymous place that it seems. Even spammers must provide a contact address if they have any hope of separating you from your hard-earned cash. And deliberately causing harm to others can obviously come back to haunt you. Or, as in this case, kill you.
__ Armando Trevino
fbcn@earthlink.net __
__ Mom Will Never Know __
I was a bit dismayed to see myself described as a "nondescript schlumpf" in André LaPlume's "The Big Tease" (Wired 6.12, page 191), but I suppose I don't mind too much as long as you promise not to send a copy of your magazine to my mother.
I do, however, feel obligated to point out a less subjective error. While I am proud to have my stories appear on The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, I actually cover the Internet for the Journal's print editions. The interactive edition has its own dedicated staff of reporters, and I promise you they are far more descript and far less schlumpfy than I.
__ Tom Weber
tweber@wsj.com __
__ Young at Heart __
At age 60, I still get blown away, this time by the first Wired I've ever seen. I received issue 6.12 yesterday, spent six hours reading it, and dreamed about it last night. May I still say "Wow!"?
I'm not retired, but I am lucky enough to be working from home on my new iMac. Registering some feature that came with my new computer is what got me 6.12, the first of three I'll get as a gift. I'll pay for the rest of the year.
Loved the photo of Gates sitting in a gray corner, looking as if he has blood on his hands. Noted that Jacques Leslie didn't mention that in Paris one may now use a credit card to drive little electric cars on errands, then just plug them in at a convenient charging station and hop onto le métro. Glad I got to read even the last of Negroponte's columns, and hope I have the energy to remain conversant with what is coming so fast.
My elder siblings are not even on email, despite how I plead with them. Here we are in a new world driven by our kids, and not so-called adults. I hope you do it better than we did. Love your magazine.
__ Bill Wickland
wackyb@proaxis.com __
__ Fight the Power __
Time out! In "Do YOU Know Tony Podesta?" (Wired 6.12, page 180), the ideology is cleverly woven into the fabric of the story, but before we find ourselves nodding in agreement, I suggest the premise be closely examined: that no matter the intellectual brilliance or marketplace success of Silicon Valley, government is going to win, and the Valley better go along to get along.
Government doesn't have to be defined as a micromanaging, invasive behemoth with ultimate power over individuals and the marketplace.
With all due respect to Sara Miles and Tony Podesta, government can never really succeed long term as paternalistic, intrusive, and omnipotent. If Silicon Valley flexes its muscles and focuses its own power, it will be government that changes.
__ Jeffrey W. Gettleman
jeffg@examco.com __
__ Toys for Totalitarians __
I cannot be anything but shocked and sickened by Bruce Sterling's "Hardware for Hard Time" (Wired 6.11, page 136). I have subscribed to Wired since its inception, and although much of the technology discussed in its pages contains the potential for unethical use, Wired has always been open to questioning how these technologies will be utilized.
Sterling's piece, on the other hand, is a real milestone: the blatant huckstering of toys for fascists.
Those who would seek to profit from the suffering of others, in this case prisoners, might as well sell land mines, handguns, or heroin to grade-school kids.
__ Noel Phillip Rodriguez
Tucson, Arizona __
__ Here Comes the Sun __
Charles Platt's "What If Cold Fusion Is Real?" (Wired 6.11, page 170) was excellent in conveying the enigmatic qualities of cold fusion. However, he leaves the impression that independent energy systems are merely a possibility. In fact, they have been a reality for more than 15 years.
Most such systems involve photovoltaics. Several hundred thousand homeowners worldwide receive electricity from PVs. In the US, PV electricity is now about 150 to 200 percent more expensive than grid electricity, but it is projected to decline to competitive levels by 2002.
__ Christopher Swan
San Francisco __
__ Undo __
Belly-Up: InuteroGarden, the maker of Tummy Tutor ("Incubator," Wired 6.12, page 100), is no more. ... Harmonic Divergence: JBL's Simply Cinema ESC550 unit, not the Harmony CD player, is pictured on page 134 of "Wired Tools" ("Harmonic Convergence," Wired 6.12). ... Minus One Degree: Robert X. Cringely is a pundit and author, but not a Stanford PhD ("The Double Life of Robert X. Cringely," Wired 6.12, page 178). ... Fabricated URL: Greenbeans Fabrications's Web address is www.gbfab.com ("Just Chillin'," Wired 6.12, page 153).
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