and here was our dear readers reply:

Date: Tue, 6 Feb 1996 05:28:17 -0500
To: wayne@nyweb.com (Wayne Sterling)
From: sansrcqt@acf2.NYU.EDU (Thierry Sansaricq)
Subject: Re: Multimedia Fascists

Hello,

Sorry I came down so hard on you guys, but at the moment I wrote that message, it seemed like
the entire Internet had been appropriated by an obscure clique of downtown hipsters, and I was
out to reclaim it for the masses. It was a heroic impulse, but naive as well.

>I'd also like to extend the oppurtunity for you to craft a piece on how you
>see THe Net serving to be a creative and efficent tool for the common
>people. If its half as good as your letter, we'll run it as a feature.

I'd love to take you up on your offer, but am not sure what the subject matter is. I have several
ideas rolling around in my head. Here's one of them:

I am not sure that cities will survive the new century intact. Technologies like the Internet may
very well diminish the importance of large urban centers and the creative cultures they nurture.
What will perhaps emerge is an online culture that is geographically dispersed and open to all.
The hip culture currently available to a select few will become more accessable and participatory.

By way of analogy, there was a time when would-be sophisticated shoppers were forced to come
to New York if they wanted to do any serious shopping. Today, they can find the very same
items in, say, Dallas or most any shopping mall. It's sort of a democratization of shopping.

Will the online experience do the same for art and culture? How many creative people do you
know who have already left town for a cozy life in Pennsylvania? Those who can to already have,
and this trend may accelerate in the future as telecommuting becomes a reality. It's worth thinking
about.

Let me know what you think.

>Until next we communicate, lighten up dude!

I feel much better now.

Thierry