Next On-Ramp: A Kinder, Gentler Super Information Highway

In his 1988 inaugural speech, George Bush sited his vision of a kinder,
gentler nation. He should have clarified himself by saying a "virtual"
nation. Anyone new to the on-line world is immediately surprised by the 
general atmosphere of good will. This becomes evident when you check out
nearly any message conference echoed today. You find nothing but people
helping people with only the best of intentions. About one week after I had
installed my first modem, I was stuck with a specific Turbo Pascal coding
problem. I had run myself ragged calling up all of my contacts with
my problem only to find that no one I knew had a real grasp on Turbo 
Pascal. A friend of mine told me to post my problem on the Pascal forum in
America On-line. Out of desperation, I followed my friend's advice. I felt
a little silly posting such a specific problem until I read some of the
other posts. To my surprise, I had found a conference dedicated to Turbo
Pascal coding. After a little bit of fooling around, I placed my concern on
the forum with relative ease. The next day, I signed on hoping to find 
someone who had taken the time to read my desperate message. I was amazed
at what I found. I received at least 15 different responses! They were
varied to include source of reference to where I could find help I needed,
actual coding examples, some just offering their sympathy and regrets that
they couldn't help. There was even a discussion about coding formats that
was a spin off of my original question.

The existence of this very magazine is an excellent example of the 
differences between actual world and this "virtual world". If I was to put
out a magazine printed on actual paper and distributed in the actual world
without charging any money, it would not be taken seriously. On the same
note, if I were to distribute this magazine only to those who paid me a
subscription, I would be considered money-hungry and would absolutely not
be taken seriously (please don't think me too high and mighty as I am
selling commercial spots - we all have to eat). So where is this all going? 

What direction will this brave, new Virtual World take. Only time will tell, 
but for now, we can all consider ourselves fortunate to be citizens of the 
virtual world.

-an editorial by William Rozmiarek, June 10, 1994