From: Steve Talbott
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 29/04/2004 21:28
Subject: NetFuture -- Message from Kevin Kelly
April 29, 2004
QUARTERLY ADMINISTRATIVE NOTICE
A Message from Kevin Kelly
Many of you know something about Kevin Kelly's engaging presence from
his
participation in past issues of NetFuture. As I was considering the
futility of trying to capture the flavor of his many and varied -- and
always highly readable -- productions, it struck me that he's just about
the best person I know at saying something with very few words. So why
not draw on his own words from the .signature block he sends out with
all
his emails? --
Official Website: http://www.kk.org
Current Work: WHAT TECHNOLOGY WANTS, in progress
Former Passion: Executive Editor, WIRED magazine
http://www.wiredmag.com
Daily Obsession: COOL TOOLS: http://www.kk.org/cooltools/
Coolest Project: Long Bets, now taking bets:
http://www.longbets.org.
Classic Book: OUT OF CONTROL: http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/
Still Valid: NEW RULES FOR THE NEW ECONOMY, in 9 languages, free text
First Job: WHOLE EARTH CATALOG as Editor
http://www.wholeearthmag.com
Newest Book: ASIA GRACE, all images, no words:
http://www.asiagrace.com
Forever Project: All Species Inventory http://www.all-species.org
That signature block threatens to get longer and longer as Kevin takes
off
in pursuit of new and previously unsuspected interests. Click on any
one
of those links, and you'll be in for quite a ride. But there is one
thing
I can say about all my interactions with Kevin: however much I have
found
myself disagreeing with him, I have always had the strong impression
that
he speaks with his conscience and his passions deeply engaged --
something
not so common today. When we converse via email, I never have the
slightest doubt that his whole aim is for a true understanding -- again
not so common.
And, doggone it, I sure as heck envy him his [log in to unmask], which must be
just
about the shortest and most easily memorized email address in the entire
digital landscape.
Here is Kevin speaking for himself:
I think technology is a spiritual force of unalloyed good in the
universe, so I find myself in disagreement with Steve Talbott more
times than I would like. There is much we agree about, however.
Chief
is the importance of challenging one's own complicity in the scheme
of
things, and armed with this kind of personal honesty Steve has gone
further on the quest to decipher technology than anyone I know.
His journey is chronicled in his innovative email publication,
NetFuture -- another measure of his will to understand technology via
intimacy rather than ignorance. What you won't find in it are the
standard stereotypes about the technological steamroller. What you
will find are critical concerns about science and technology that you
had never thought of, deep connections not revealed in consumer
magazines, and an unconventional perspective that is intent not on
eliminating technology, but re-inventing it.
At least that is what I've taken away so far. I read each issue of
NetFuture very carefully to see where Steve's quest has taken him
next.
This avid study on my part put me in a quandary this week when Steve
asked me to write an endorsement for NetFuture. While I have read it
for years, even engaged in a public conversation published in several
issues, I have never supported the zine where it counted -- in the
PayPal account. My own meager principles prevent me from soliciting
support from others for something I am not supporting myself. Like
many of you, I REALLY did mean to click over to that PayPal button,
but
you know how it is.... I just never got there.
This morning I found it very easy to do. That little button is behind
this link:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=stevet%40oreilly.com
I'm supporting NetFuture because I read it more than I read most of
the
other publications I pay for, and because I would like Steve to
continue to challenge my own conceptions and assumptions about this
most potent force now at large in our society. Even if I don't end
up
in harmony with Steve, I've long ago figured out that I get the most
out of this satisfyingly personal report when I don't agree with it.
It's a great deal. An intelligent, concise periodical, pushed to
your
mailbox that stares down the machine without blinking, without
rancor,
and without cliches.
I'll buy that.
-- kk
For previous messages by NetFuture supporters:
* Dorothy Denning (http://www.netfuture.org/support_1.html)
* Howard Rheingold (http://www.netfuture.org/support_2.html)
* * * * *
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And finally: THANK YOU!
Steve
------------------------------
Steve Talbott ([log in to unmask]), NetFuture editor
On the web: http://www.netfuture.org/
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