I finally (no laughter, please) got a cable modem today, and now I know what a good-sized chunk of the rest of the world knows, which is that using the Web feels different when you’re always connected. Heretofore, I thought in terms of “going on the Web” as something you had to do. Now, I don’t go on the Web, I am on the Web. It’s a permanent state of being. The conceptual difference is enormous, and I have no doubt that it will impact greatly on my blogging.
Just thought you’d enjoy listening to me playing catch-up. Which new technology shall I discover next? Answering machines? Typewriters? The printing press? In a way, the really surprising thing is that I managed to start a blog in the first place, thanks solely and only to the adorable Megan McArdle of Asymmetrical Information (who egged me on) and the amazing Doug McLennan of artsjournal.com (who built the damn thing for me). Blame them.
The only thing for which I take credit is the discovery of Our Girl in Chicago. At a cocktail party last night, a distinguished ex-editor sidled up to me and asked, “O.K., how’s the finger? And who is this Our Girl? Where did you find her?” Why, under a cabbage leaf, of course….