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METAFORIX MAIL

Volume 1, Issue 21 December 19, 2000

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CONTENTS AT A GLANCE:

ON MY MIND: Anachronism
IN THE MEDIA: Online Journalism Awards
INFORMATICON:Hyping Hype
Cyberspeak: The New Internet
SITE OF THE DAY:BuzzWhack
GUEST COLUMNISTS WANTED!

ON MY MIND
[From the Editor]

Each fall, Beloit College releases a "Mindset List" intended to reflect its entering students' cultural frame of reference. In its very first sentence, this fall's release notes that members of the Class of 2004 "are descending on the campuses of America, loaded with cell phones, Palm Pilots, CD burners and other essential items hardly even imagined a short time ago."

Among other technological facts of life for students born in 1982, Beloit points out, these students have never known a world without ATMs, 24/7 cable broadcasts, and satellite dishes.

My own touchstone for technological anachronism is a Woody Allen film. It's not Sleeper, as the Rip Van Winkel overtones might suggest, but Play It Again, Sam, Allen's 1972 homage to Humphrey Bogart and Casablanca. In the film, Tony Roberts, Allen's friend and sidekick, is obsessively determined to be reachable by phone at all times. At each destination, he phones ahead with his itinerary: "I'll be at 362-9296 for a while; then I'll be at 648-0024 for about fifteen minutes; then I'll be at 752-0420; and then I'll be home, at 621-4598."

It has always struck me how incongruous, almost incomprehensible, this aspect of the plot might seem if one has always been within electronic reach. Answering machines, call forwarding, cell phones -- not to mention wireless e-mail, two-way pagers, and wearable computers -- make the litany of numbers unnecessary. Of course, there's an entire new litany of indispensable PINs, passwords, and userids to take its place, but we rarely recite it aloud.

I thought of Play It Again Sam recently as I read Jane Hamilton's new novel, Disobedience, in which a teenage boy discovers his mother's extramarital affair by an initially accidental, then regular and deliberate, invasion of her e-mail correspondence. Henry's insights on the travails and near-dissolution of the family, narrated at ten years' remove, have a creepy, illicit feel that is distinctly 21st century, but not entirely unfamiliar. Despite its speed and immediacy, Hamilton's use of e-mail as the technological underpinning of her plot feels closer to older literary devices, not so different from opening a letter or eavesdropping on a conversation.

Allen's phone-ahead device, in contrast, depends on a point in time that can never be recaptured. While the insecurity and self-absorption of a character who must always be within reach transcend time and place, it seems to me that the technological anachronism overwhelms the character.

If you were an adult in 1972, you get it, but you've gotten over it. If you're part of the Class of 2004, phoning ahead is probably a not too amusing distraction from an otherwise appealing, nostalgic film.

Disobedience inverts the premise of Play It Again, Sam. Like coming to terms with the trappings of the Information Age, Disobedience recognizes that it's not the technology -- it's the culture.

Cordially,

Lois C. Ambash, Editor
editor@metaforix.com

IN THE MEDIA
[a recent news article, feature, or opinion piece]

Online Journalism Grows Up
The Online Journalism Awards

Earlier this month, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Online News Association (ONA) inaugurated the Online Journalism Awards (OJAs). A dozen winners were selected from among 600 entries. Content written originally and exclusively for the Web was judged separately from content written originally for other media and then enhanced for use on the Web.

Tom Goldstein, dean of the journalism school, called the occasion "the first time that such an ambitious contest has been held for Web journalism." Rich Jaroslovsky, president of ONA and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, noted that high journalistic standards for the Web serve the interests of both journalists and the public. In its press release, the ONA pointed out that the OJAs "join several other prestigious media awards administered by Columbia, including the Pulitzer Prizes."

Salon and MSNBC.com drew top honors, for general excellence in online journalism. To view a showcase of all the winners, go to www.onlinejournalismawards.org.

INFORMATICON
[a provocative quote, statistic, or piece of data]

"Genomics Will Rule"

Nathan Myhrvold -- former chief technical officer of Microsoft; former colleague of Cambridge University cosmologist Stephen Hawking; amateur chef, dinosaur hunter, and vulcanist -- calls genomics "the new Internet."

" 'Genomics is the next industry that will undergo this kind of explosion,' Myhrvold said. 'It will rival anything the computer or communication industries have done up until now. It has the potential to reshape the entire world economy in exactly the same way information technology has. . . .'

"With the first landmark essentially met -- the Human Genome Project -- Myhrvold said scientists are on track to decipher the genome of every human, every disease organism, every plant, and eventually everything in the entire biosphere. . . .Like computer power, he believes genomics will grow exponentially, by factors of millions, allowing what seems impossible today in genomics to become reality."

Kristen Philipkoski, Wired News, 12/8/00

Cyberspeak
[the vocabulary of the information age]

Internet Speed

Moore's Law: Gordon Moore is a co-founder of Intel Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of computer chips. In 1965, Moore observed that the number of transistors that can fit on a chip, and therefore its computing power, doubles every 18 months.

By all accounts, this prediction has proven remarkably accurate. Stewart Brand, quoted in Wired Style, says "Moore's Law is treated as a general statement that computers get drastically better every year -- faster, cheaper, smaller -- and that this will occur indefinitely." But Moore himself, among others, doubts that such a rapid pace of improvement can continue beyond the next ten years or so.

Nevertheless, in a recent Business 2.0 interview, Moore said "It's gotten to the point now that anything that changes exponentially is called Moore's Law, and I'm happy to take the credit for all of it."

SITE OF THE DAY
[a nice place to visit]

Jargon You Can't Live With, Can't Live Without

BuzzWhack is a site "dedicated to demystifying buzzwords," defined as "usually important-sounding word[s] or phrase[s] used primarily to impress laypersons."

The home page contains a clearly posted warning that "If you can use more than three buzzwords in a single sentence while keeping a straight face, this site is not for you." BuzzWhack concedes, nevertheless, that to "keep the Buzzword Makers from practicing their craft" is a hopeless proposition -- so, true to its roots as a "Tongue-in-Cheek Production," it has created The Buzzword Compliant Dictionary. Each definition consists of a kernel of accurate, plain-English translation garnished with a dollop or two of wry commentary.

BuzzWhack publishes free daily and weekly e-letters and welcomes visitor nominations for "The Whack of the Week." To visit this clever and occasionally indispensable site, go to www.buzzwhack.com.

GUEST COLUMNISTS WANTED!
Metaforix Mail seeks guest columns on how information technologies are (or are not) changing your world of work. Contributions are subject to editing for length and clarity.

If your column is accepted for publication, it will be permanently posted on the Metaforix web site, along with a link to your e-mail address or URL.

As a small token of appreciation, you will also receive a $10 gift certificate toward your next purchase at Amazon.com.

To submit a column for consideration, e-mail it to
editor@metaforix.com.
Talk to you soon, Lois

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To Volume 1, Issue 20 December 12, 2000
To Volume 1, Issue 22 December 26, 2000