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January 18th, 1998
It's Here Now
First they said radio was going to put an
end to the publishing business. Shortly after that the publishing
business diversified. The 'Me and Joe' style of vicarious action
tales gave way to stories on 'How-To.' With the double-barreled
approach they survived just fine. With the advent of TV our life style
and the pace thereof picked up immensely. And, of course, radio
would go out of business.
As you know, radio is alive and well. They
diversified. So it is today. Information is following the natural path
as it has always done. It is diversifying, changing. And we are all
the better for it. In days past it was not easy to get an article published.
You sent in a query, then an outline with a few chapters if it was a
book. The writer had to be qualified and 'jump through hoops' to
get in print.
Not so today, and this troubles some of the
older writers. The new 'kid-on-the-block' is this, the Internet, the
web page. On these pages you will find stories and columns on 'Me
and Joe,' stories on how to catch the 'biggest-one, and writing on just
about anything you can imagine. True, some of it is not polished, clean,
intellectual, well formulated, and most likely would not have been published,
let alone even accepted in earlier years. Some however, is pretty good stuff!
Today there exists on the pages of the web something
for each of us. The new tyro, the angler, and the seasoned veteran. The
change is the variety of material available and it is increasing each day. It is
not just 'Me and Joe,' not just 'How-to,' but a new communication as yet
not clearly identified and named. But, it is new and those who don't
acknowledge it, or accept it are in for a big surprise. It's here to stay,
until it again changes sometime in the future.
Take advantage of the 'new kid,' dig into the writing
on the web. Some is good, some fair, some even poor; but, so what. It is
communication. It is what is going on now. It is the most dynamic form the
world has yet seen. If you have an ISP, so you can get on the Internet, you
have access to your own web page and the opportunity to write something
on it. Go ahead and do it. It is your avenue to the world of others. Let them
hear from you. What you have to say is just as important as what they have
to say about anything.
I am sure many, or even most of the columns I have on
this web site would not have been published by the print media. Probably not
good enough, and there was no regular place to put them anyway. So what. I had
something to say, most have agreed with me; and the one's who didn't agree with
me, didn't bother to let me know. It is my way of communicating with you, who I
consider my friends. And the list keeps growing and I thank you.
Remember, this is not the information channel
of the future. It is the living word of today. Fresh, vital, involved, and
current. It is the what there is now. Get used to it. It's here.~ JC
Till next week, remember ...
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