Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Letter to the Editor of Wired

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:7/29/1999; 5:59:14 AM
Topic:Letter to the Editor of Wired
Msg #:8868 (In response to 8867)
Prev/Next:8867 / 8869

Then I noticed that they were also singling him out for being a pundit! And I guess I get that one too.

Then I read the NY Times article on the Walkman turning twenty. It's a great piece. It turns out there are Walkmans designed for teens and for women and for athletes and one that's modeled after the iMac. (Surprise!) So what could be so terrible about designing a computer that fit the sensibilities of elderly white male pundits? I actually think that makes a lot of sense. I can tell you this much, I am not going to own a computer that people call "delectable". I laughed when I read this in Dvorak's piece. Wired may make fun of us, but I have my own self-image, and it's none of their business, any more than I would tell a middle-aged woman writer how she should express herself thru products she uses.

BTW, when I quit Wired a few years ago, they were complaining about a section of a piece I wrote about Jean-Louis Gassee. They thought it was sexist. I told them the same thing -- get a life, get over it. The man is sexual. So what?

Extend your right arm. Pull your pinky to your palm. Same with the fourth finger and your thumb. Extend your index and middle fingers and pull them together. Move your arm so that these two fingers are directly under your nose. Sniff shortly three times.

This is delectable

To me, an soon-to-be-elderly white male pundit, this is what delectable is all about. ;->

I saw a great show on the History Channel last night, we just got it on our cable system a few weeks ago, their programming is excellent, I've seen shows on Lindberg and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This story was about Elvis, and how he opened up the teen culture in the US, and how this forever freed teens from having their sexuality controlled by their parents' generation. All those girls screaming, what were they screaming about? They were horny! And that's definitely something worth screaming about. That's what Elvis changed, and thank you Elvis!

So what does this have to do with Wired and Dvorak and delectable iMacs? Just this, we more mature men might want something made of leather, no guns please, but something that was rugged and fits in a carry-on bag, and fits our style. I just bought a new car, a Lexus RX300. Something like that. Not delectable, but cool and modern, stylish and comfortable. (The older you get the more you value comfort, it's true it's true.)

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