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Twits, Twitter, and Tweets

By from the October 2009 issue

Falling behind the hi-tech curve.

I’ve been thinking about the huge hi-tech changes that have taken place since I first wrote for The American Spectator. That was in, oh, 1976. Very few people at the time realized just how far reaching the transformation would be-although I suspect that George Gilder did. We still don’t know how disruptive the changes will be because they haven’t stopped yet. But one indicator is that major news institutions like the New York Times are in jeopardy. The digital revolution is like an express train taking us to an unknown destination.

I hate to use the much overused word revolutionary, but as applied to the new technology  it is appropriate. Its impact on society may well be comparable to that of the printing press, or the Industrial Revolution.

It was in the early 1980s that everyone you knew began talking about word processors. “What program do you use?” Names like WordStar and WordPerfect filled the air. How great it was, people said. You could rearrange the order of your paragraphs. I refused to join the crowd, smugly replying that paragraphs were rightly ordered the first time. Then in 1987 I started to use a computer myself. The Hoover Institution, which I have been fortunate enough to visit over the years, had a mainframe system. It was swept away years ago and may already be in a museum. But it was a revelation to me. Overnight, rewriting became not just easier but an actual pleasure.

You still had to print out the copy and send it by Federal Express. There was no fax or Internet yet. Once or twice, I recall, a messenger even came by my apartment building in Washington, D.C., to pick up my article. Then it would have to be re-set in type. Today, we writers do double duty, working both as authors and typesetters. It also means that we now effectively have our own (unpaid) secretaries.

The first computer I bought was a laptop from Radio Shack, a Tandy 200. It cost about $600, and fully loaded it had 72 kilobytes of memory-enough for two or (max) three of my articles. For a while it was a favorite of journalists, but Radio Shack went out of the computer business long ago.

It’s amazing to realize that the fax machine, considered a great innovation at the time, both came and went in the relatively short time span that I am discussing. I hear that for legal reasons some documents are still faxed, but my guess is that the fax will disappear.

E-mail was certainly a great invention. I rate it far more highly than the cell phone, which I dislike. (But I finally acquired the simplest possible variety a year ago.) A reliably late adopter, I sent my first email in 1993. Today, however, life would be unthinkable without it. Then came the Internet. It was the summer of 1996 that suddenly everyone was talking about the Internet, just as fifteen years earlier it was MS-DOS. I remember Tim Ferguson of Forbes referred to the web as “the world wide wait,” and I wondered how long you had to wait. Anyway, it soon speeded up.

Next came “search.” A friend of mine worked for a search engine company in Palo Alto-not Google, alas. So his group was soon overrun. He moved to the D.C. suburbs, went to work for Time, and told me some good stories about how Time’s CEO, Jerry Levin, made one of the great business goofs of all time, buying AOL at about ten times its real value. It was a case where the digital promise overpowered business judgment. Today one wonders: will Time itself survive? Newsweek certainly looks doomed.

Incidentally, I have a search question, and it will show how shallow my knowledge is. How come it’s easier to find something on the world wide web than in my own computer? Sometimes I can’t find something in my computer when I know it’s there. It’s actually easier to find it by going back and googling it all over again. You will say that I don’t have the right program and I’m sure you’re right. I never became one of those Mac nuts, so maybe Bill Gates can help.

Then again, I had a bad experience with the latest Microsoft manifestation. I bought a new laptop at Best Buy in 2007. It had something called Vista installed and I found I couldn’t figure it out. I was still within the Best Buy grace period so they took it back, no questions asked. Then they told me that all their laptops have Vista installed. Meanwhile I have kept going with XP, but I worry that I may soon find myself stranded.

In other words, I am beginning to fall way behind the hi-tech curve. There are other telltale signs. During the recent uprising in Iran, there was a lot of stuff in the papers about Twitter. I didn’t know what it was, and I regret to say I still don’t. Something about sending short messages over the Internet? But how does this differ from e-mail? I have asked several people, but I forget every time they tell me. “Kid’s Post,” a useful Washington Post feature (sometimes I read it-surreptitiously), is no help because of course young people already know about twits, Twitter and tweets.

Recently, I read an item about how iPhones have a tendency to explode. “Reports are coming in from France, the Netherlands and the UK of iPhones blowing up in people’s faces,” said Yahoo! It didn’t bother me because I don’t have one. I’m not sure that I even know what an iPhone is. Here’s a question that will show up the duffers like myself: What’s the difference between an iPhone and an iPod? Got me.

While I’m at it, what about these TV remotes? Recently we had to switch over from analog to digital transmission and at home we found ourselves needing three of them. “I’ve managed to get it down to two,” my wife told me the other day, in a tone of triumph. (She knows far more about these things than I do.) Each has about 50 buttons, and when I’m on my own it’s hit or miss whether I can even change the channel. (First issue: Which remote to use?) Remember the old TVs with a pushpull knob and a rotary dial to change channels? I wonder if it’s beyond the powers of Silicon Valley to come up with something as simple as that.

Recently I bought a digital recorder from Sony. It’s amazingly small and inexpensive. I was encouraged to see that it only had about seven or eight buttons. But when I got it home, and cut away with a carving knife the incredibly tough clear plastic package, I found a forty-page instruction booklet in small type. By trial and error, however, I was able to make it work. I remember George Gilder telling me ten years ago that he bought one of the first digital recorders, went all the way to Colorado to interview a hi-tech VIP, and on his way back accidentally touched the wrong button and erased the whole thing. All lost! So I have been worried about that. I haven’t erased anything yet but when I put it in my bag the other day I found that it was playing something of its own accord when I began to walk. Something was accidentally touched and now I hardly dare try it.

Big final question: Will digital wipe out Gutenberg? I guess Kindle will be the test. Needless to say I don’t have a Kindle machine yet and don’t plan to get one. But over the past thirty years the Luddite mentality has been proved wrong every time. So it may indeed come to pass that we will all end up reading books on portable screens. I hope not. Anyway, it’s comforting to know that physical books will outlast my time…won’t they?

About the Author

Tom Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages, and most recently Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? (2009).

Letter to the Editor View all comments (37) |

Pingback| 10.13.09 @ 8:10AM

Twits, Twitter, and Tweets – Spectator.org | Latest in Tech News links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…been thinking about the huge hi-tech changes that have taken place since I first wrote for The American Spectator . That was in, oh, 1976. Read more from the original source: Twits, Twitter, and Tweets – Spectator.org Tags: been-thinking, few-people, first-wrote, how-far, huge, huge-hi-tech, place-since, the-time, time, transformation This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 6:07 am…

Conrad Spiracy| 10.13.09 @ 11:07AM

Mr. Bethell,

You have produced a fine and amusing treatise. I always enjoy your writing, and so find myself a bit chagrined to fix an error and make a few countervailing observations.

I have been involved with technology for over 30 years. Agreed, the change has been phenomenal, especially in the last decade. If you ever find yourself wondering what may come next, or next after that, you might enjoy surfing the website of Mr. Ray Kurzweil (kurzweil.com). He is one of the most prominent technology prognosticators around today.

You mentioned that in 1987 fax machines did not exist. I was employed at the then-current largest defense company in the world. We had faxes all over the world when I first started there in 1984. It seems to me that I recall seeing some while on active duty in the Navy in the late 1970s. What I believe you meant to intone, was that the pervasive use of faxes was not quite at its peak in 1987.

The Internet Protocol (IP) was cowritten by Vinton Cerf (yes, the son of the venerable Bennet Cerf) while he was in the employ of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in 1968. By 1970, a string of classified defense sites and key research universities were connected to “the internet.”

Common use of the internet began in the early 1980s. Users could log on, using a text based sub-protocol of IP called Telnet. File transfers were effected via the sub-protocol called File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

I had my first email account while employed by the defense manufacturer. I often upgraded to the next generation (speedier, more secure) version of modems as soon as they came to market. I was never anxious to be “the first on the block,” but just wanted to do my business faster and more efficiently.

Like you, I am still stuck on XP and will NOT upgrade (ha!) to Vista. I opened a Facebook account only a few months back and will soon close it. I do not tweet. I am perfectly happy to do my professional and personal work, surf the news, and read entertaining commentaries on AmSpec.

And for all of the supergeeks out there, electronics will NEVER replace sex!

Ray| 10.13.09 @ 11:57AM

"I do not tweet"

Nor do I. I consider that to be the blog equivalence of a 10 second sound bite (byte?)

Appleby| 10.14.09 @ 7:39AM

Since I have an actual job, I have no time for Tweets. As far as I can tell, this is a technology for people who have too much time on their hands or have other people to do their actual work.

Alan Brooks| 10.18.09 @ 9:23PM

a PC is just a toy, a grownup toy.

Do you think that because something is technologically sophisticated it is also sophisticating?

Ray| 10.13.09 @ 11:54AM

"Anyway, it's comforting to know that physical books will outlast my time...won't they?"

Probably not, as those books are deteriorating on the shelves as we speak. The life expectancy of a book is now around 20 years, all thanks to the "innovative' paper processing (so very green, don'; you know) that has replaced the old, long shelf life paper with new, inexpensive, environmentally friendly short shelf life paper.

So, if you want to persevere your book, you may want to think about transferring them to microfiche.

Tim| 10.13.09 @ 1:19PM

For longevity you really can't beat clay tablets.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 10.13.09 @ 1:28PM

I remember the last time I was up to speed with technology. It was 1983, and I was the only one in my family who could make the clock stop blinking on our VCR. I mean I was so good with that VCR, that I could program the damn thing, to record shows up to one week ahead of schedule (as long as somebody remembered to leave the power on the cable box and a blank tape in the machine).

I also had one of the earliest CD players around too, even when most of the music stores weren’t selling them yet. I was totally cool!!

Oh, the good old days!! To be ahead of the technology curve, it was great!! And then for some unknown reason, I seem to have taken a couple of years off, and when I opened my eyes again, everything had changed. The Train had left the station, and I was standing on the platform all by myself. And I’ve been running down the tracks after that damn Technology Train ever since. I can’t see it yet, but I do know it’s up ahead, somewhere?

So I guess my point is, you just got to keep trying, even if you’re not totally cool anymore. But if that VCR ever makes a comeback again in the future (I can hope?), I still know how to program that damn thing like a champ.

Oh, how I miss 1983!!

Fred McCarthy | 10.13.09 @ 2:40PM

Watched a TV show the other day when Steve Jobs made the comment that, with reference to changes, "There are still a lot of people who don't want six wheels on their car or want to steer it with a joy stick." As an 84 year old blogger, I very nearly gave Mr. Jobs a standing ovation in my living room!

L. Ross| 10.13.09 @ 4:32PM

Mr. Bethel

The Logitech Harmony 880 is the finest remote control money can buy. Programmed through the internet, it will run all your equipment easily and intuitively. And no, I'm not associated with it, it is just that good a remote.

Big Leo| 10.13.09 @ 4:36PM

Balderdash! Technology is for peasants. Why they don't just write out whatever they wish to say on a good quality paper with a fountain pen I do not understand. If you want it to go by one of the silly modern methods, you can always instruct one of your serfs to do it for you. What else are they for?

Appleby| 10.14.09 @ 7:46AM

I write weekly letters to two shut-in Aunties and monthly letters to a good friend in New Zealand who believes that letter writing is a skill that should be preserved. Thanks to the Palmer Penmanship lessons I had in Grade 3, at my two-room school, my handwriting is clear and legible and even people with failing eyesight can read it. My elderly relatives look forward to getting letters every week, and my friend who collects stamps looks forward to the new editions I send to him with his letters.

I do all my work on the computer and I am glad someone invented it; however, I have found that since it was sowed broadcast across the business world, nobody can do a coherent first draft of anything. Knowing you can revise endlessly means your secretary does twelve drafts before the document is ready to be sent...and e-mail means your secretary frequently has no idea what is going on in a matter she is expected to track and the file is incomplete because the e-mail has not been printed out and given to the secretary for filing. And since all those tweets, e-mails and assorted communications are discoverable, the volume of paper files is growing exponentially. This by me is not an improvement.

Pingback| 10.14.09 @ 3:03AM

Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : Twits, Twitter, and Tweets [spectato links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…The_Spectator philipaklein Philip Klein amspec American Spectator 115 Show more Shortened Links Linking to the spectator.org page http://bit.ly/A7PJT info   2 tweets Tweet The American Spectator : Twits, Twitter, and Tweets spectator.org/archives/2009/10/13/twits-twitter-and-tweets – view page – cached I've been thinking about the huge hi-tech changes that have taken place since I first…

Derek Leaberry| 10.14.09 @ 9:17AM

As someone who typed his last history term paper on an old manual royal typewriter over 25 years ago, I find that Mr. Bethell's experiences and sentiments pretty much match my own. As with much of new technology, much is beneficial and probably more is pointless and wasteful.

J. Lizzio| 10.14.09 @ 10:39AM

This article and the comments are a fascinating read for a college student. Not to offend, but when someone tells me they can't figure out some consumer technology it's absolutely incomprehensible to me. I cannot imagine being in such a state. My bits of tech might as well be part of my body, and I am accustomed to having instant access to any bit of knowledge that I might even wonder about.

The next revolution is the iPhone and similar smart-phone technologies. It gives you near instant access to any information or media you could possibly desire. It might as well be the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Pingback| 10.14.09 @ 10:39AM

5 Weight Loss Diet Plans for Diabetics | Diet Health Wisdom links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…doctors prescribe to people with diabetes . See the original post here:  5 Weight Loss Diet Plans for Diabetics Related Blogs on Yet Once Yet Once Again! « Yes…I'm a Shoe Whore! The American Spectator : Twits, Twitter, and Tweets Hot Air » Blog Archive » Peter Beinart: Petraeus is the only … Related Posts Many Diabetics Not Following Healthy Eating Guidelines Are Low Carb Diets Good for Diabetics? |…

Derek Leaberry| 10.14.09 @ 12:13PM

I'd rather have a new fishing rod than an I-Pod. I'd rather reel in a sailfish off the North Carolina coast than twitter someone cross country. I'd rather read a book on my backdeck with a beer and a whiskey than read a Kindle book on a computer screen in my bedroom. I feel sad for all those "men" chitter-chattering on their cell phones like high school girls instead of communicating in person, man to man. Different strokes.

Russell Seitz| 10.14.09 @ 2:11PM

Tom gives himself too little credit - all he need do to render his book length dismissal of relativity reviewable is to reduce it 140 keystrokes .

This should provide ample room for its scientific content

mike in tn| 10.18.09 @ 11:20PM

we are doomed
see john derbyshire for answers
God bless you for your writing Mr Bethell

Any of N| 10.22.09 @ 9:21AM

Funny essay. Chuckled all the way through it but must admit something. It was only after the magazine arrived in the US Mail that it came to my attention. I must get up to speed on this newfangled internet thing so that I can comment early on Tom Bethell's writing!

I too am a long-time enthusiastic reader and would like to offer praise. But is our essayist aware of the technological development known as "reader comments"?

Carlos| 10.26.09 @ 3:07PM

Kindles are a Godsend and are bargain-priced. If you're going to be an "early adopter" of just one gadget, make it that one.

Carlos| 10.26.09 @ 3:09PM

As for Twitter, it is teaching a new generation how to write concisely.

www.us-bapeoutlet.com | 4.5.10 @ 9:48PM

www.us-bapeoutlet.com

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