June 10, 2005
How the hell did freelance writers do their jobs before the Internet? I mean, really! Back when I started writing in the late '80s (that's 1980s), my writing suffered considerably due to lack of research. Now I've got the Internet. That's not enough, really. I do a lot of phone calls and on occasion visit geographical sites that need to be visited. But really, how the hell did freelance writers do their jobs before the Internet?

Here's what just happened:

I'm working on this article about microfluidics. This PhD from Stanford calls me to do an interview. (There's a story there as well, since it was unexpected. His boss was on vacation. I asked the boss if there was anyone else I could talk to. I never heard back. Then blam!, the brand new PhD calls me). We're talking complex technical shit, like, I only sort of know what he's talking about, and he goes, Here, let me e-mail you a PowerPoint slide that shows you. A second later, I pull up my e-mail (thank God I invested in a cable connection), and there's the PowerPoint slide. He walks me through it. Then he e-mails me a VIDEO that shows it. A short video clip. I pull it up, and ask, "Uh, what am I looking at?" It's a 2-second clip of a bunch of colors suddenly moving and diffusing through different parts of what appears to be a cross or plus sign. He walks me through it. I'm taping the interview. It's all there. Plus I've got a potential graphic for the article.

Is technology great or what? I mean, yes, there is a tendency for the Internet to only provide faster gossip and easy access to pornography, but shit kemosabe! Sometimes it's a freaking miracle! (Not that there's anything wrong with faster gossip and easy access to pornography!) And really, engineers haven't supplied us with jet packs or flying cars, but this Internet thing--it just might catch on.

Best,
Mark Terry