I’ve been kind of a wired wireless guy lately.
My wife, Liz, just gave birth to Graham Robert, who weighed in at 9 lbs. 8 oz. and now joins our 3-year-old daughter, Anastasia, in the information age that President Clinton gave his blessing to last Thursday.
The baby was two weeks overdue so as to not steal any thunder from Congress’ passage of the historic telecommunications reform bill. It was pretty considerate of my wife and the big bruiser to hold things off so I could write the biggest telecommunications story in 62 years. The piece of landmark legislation itself was weeks overdue because of Senate godfather Bob Dole’s (R-Kan.) anxiety over a multibillion broadcast spectrum “giveaway” in the bill.
But you can ask only so much of a woman trying to get a future middle linebacker out of her system. She was not going to hold off any longer so I could attend Clinton’s signing of the telecom bill.
Don’t tell my wife, or the RBOCs, that I could be to blame for the bill’s delay, having started Dole on the broadcast auction thing after asking him and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) a few weeks ago if either had thoughts on the measure.
Oh, yes, did I mention Jobs? No, not the thousands being eliminated by AT&T Corp., the seven regional Bells and other telecom behemoths that will partner up and stalk the earth with one-stop stomping.
Steve Jobs-a thoughtful guy, who got all worked up by an apple. Apple behind him, Jobs has taken the Next step and is toying around with Pixar.
What does this prophet of cyberspace think about the brave new world he helped create? Jobs, interviewed in Wired magazine’s February issue, says the info revolution is oversold and will do less for the individual than for commerce.
“The problem is I’m older now, I’m 40 years old, and this stuff doesn’t change the world,” he said.”It really doesn’t. These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that. But it’s a disservice to constantly put things in this radical new light-that it’s going to change everything. Things don’t have to change the world to be important.”
I’m not so sure. But maybe that’s the difference between Jobs and me. He comes from a wired world; I, from a wireless world. I’m skeptical, but not cynical.
