Thomas James has squashed one, last name Robinson.

You know, while you are all having fun at Spider's expense, you might want to remember he's not a Canadian.

Incidentally, check out this unrelated picture: http://e2btest.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/iwojimalg.jpg

I'm not sure what difference it makes. Anyway, I thought he was living in B.C.

He *is* living in BC. But he's an American, so Canadian-bashing is rather gratuituous.

One item caught my eye:

Spider: The Internet was going to make us all rich. 'Nuff said;

James: An unrealistic expectation fueled by the hype of the Dot-Com Bubble. However, it depends on your perspective...

Maybe I haven't done enough reading on the topic, but I have yet to come across a publication that makes this point. The dot-com bust was inevitable, because every industry witnesses a rash of failures during its infancy. It takes trial and error - much error - to figure out how to operate in a type of business that's never existed before.

Can anybody tell me how to get WordStar to work on my Osborne computer? It's running the CP/M operating system...guess I shoulda upgraded after the computer bust.

/smirk

I consider the trashing Mr. James dealt to Spider Robinson to have been excessive, and in places unfair. Mr. James strikes me as somewhat numb to Spider's frequent ironies. Having known Spider in college, I see that that aspect of his personality remains unchanged.

None of it came through as ironies to me (at least not intentional ones). I found the essay at best sophomoric.

Yes, you're right, Francis -- I am numb to irony.

I'm still not going to divest myself of the Robinson section of my Sc-fi shelf. I know Spider's a liberal and I still enjoy his writing.

I think it's clear that he wishes the peaceful unity of the human race, and thinks that just maybe we were headed in that direction. In more than one story he uses mass-telepathy as something that people ought to be working toward. I happen to disagree with this, but the it's the way in which he explored the idea that was fascinating, not necessarily the idea itself.

So, I disagree completely with Spider on this one. But no boycott.