Volume 13, No. 1
November 2000
Urban Legends & the Challenges of Standardization
An Artificial Line, or Technology as Spectrology
Thanks for corrections on e-mail addresses after the recent “E-Mail Alert.” If your current address is incorrect or missing, please send it to Pam Laird.
Of the many interesting and sometimes challenging queries coming to the Mercurians’ website, <www. mercurians.org>, one seemed particularly worth sharing. A young fellow wanted help with compiling a list of the five most exciting communication technologies. He had only been able to find “the usual boring ones” on his own. Frankly, we’re not sure that any communication technologies are “boring,” but we refrained from that response. Instead, as usual, we offered the young fellow some helpful suggestions, including how to get the most out of his local library.
It is interesting to speculate about what many young people think is out there. With what does the cognitive map in their heads fill the ether? Vast collections of service providers and goodies? Perhaps they imagine it as a huge bowl of treats, akin to a basket of Halloween candy, into which they merely have to dip to fulfill their needs. Certainly the unrestrained rhetoric of plenty and freedom with which we all have been surrounded for years feeds such fantasies.
Once again, we most wholeheartedly thank Pam Stephan for her hard work at building the site and maintaining it. Contact her at <pstephan@centurytel.net> with suggestions and comments. Or send ideas to Pam Laird.