I am scared. Really. During my lifetime media have changed:

>> from being static to being dynamic
>> from being linear to being hyper-linked
>> from being text oriented to being visual
>> from being exclusive, privately owned to open access
>> from being uni-directional to being interactive

I'd feel much safer sitting in my study and writing a conventional mini-dissertation. In fact, that's what I will do, because I am not corageous enough to say: go to http://christ-and-culture.info - there it is...

When I was first introduced to the concept of electronic messaging (what would later be called "e-mail") in 1978, I was fascinated. Today I just use it.

When I first discovered that "there is gold in them thar networks" in the late eighties, I rejoiced in the anarchic spirit of the internet: free software for free people. Today I sigh, sometimes.

When I first logged into a system remotely, using a 300BAUD accoustic coupler, in 1989, I felt the excitement of an advenurer. Meantime I am online around the clock (I hardly remember the high pitched sound of my modem any more). And even from my cell phone I get connection.

When I first opened a webpage in a browser, probably around 1993 or 1994, I was amazed at the world of opportunity opening before me. These days I feel bored, when I type http://www...

For maybe a year now I have been using "facebook" and "youtube", and I do so with fervor. But I start cooling down... What next?

I am scared, really. We used to be able to point at an enciclopedia, a monograph, a newspaper article, a paper in a journal and say: "It is writen..." Who had said what, where and when? All black on white. And we still do that. But less and less so. My kids are more likely to be involved in a chat on MIXT or skype that reading a book (which they also do!) I may find myself communicating with someone via SMS or facebook - who is in the same building, even the same room where I am... Are we controlling technology - or is technology running our lives?

I am scared. But I also do embrace the fascinating potential of innovative ways; ways of communication; ways of entertainment; ways of education; ways of artistic self-expression. Ways unheard of.