Controversial Quote

[Richard Lippincott <rlippinc -at- BEV -dot- ETN -dot- COM>]

I read Updike's quote concerning the "advantages" of paper books over
electronic text:

I think that this is a normal response people have with any change to
technology. Some people reject TV because the prefer the ability of a radio
drama to stir the imagination. Some people reject CDs because they say a
vinyl LP has "warmth." Some writers reject computers because they claim they
like the sound of a typewriter. When the printing press was invented, many
people probably cited the advantages of a hand-written manuscript.

A direct application to our jobs: Many of us probably know of newer and
better ways to get the data to the user, but are blocked by managers &
bureaucrats that won't give up old methods.

Sometimes, when I hear people make this type of comment regarding "newfangled
ideas," I point out that although surgery and dentistry has been practiced
for a couple of thousand years, the concepts of antiseptics and anesthetic
are a little more than a century old. "So, the next time you go to get a
tooth filled, you gonna tell the dentist to use dirty instruments and skip
the novocaine shot?"

Oddly, no one seems to go for that idea.

Rick Lippincott
I can send, but not receive at work. Send personal comments to:
rjlippincott -at- delphi -dot- com