Good Web generalization takes real work

I appreciated your recent column about books versus the Internet ("The Mighty Myron," October 2000). But I question only your definition of a generalist.

Following all you said about the Internet, it would appear that a generalist has a shallow knowledge of everything--a sort of "Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" wisdom base. It's the shallowness that I question. I know several real generalists: They all know many subjects in depth, although perhaps not as deeply as your philosophy teacher. These generalists can and do make significant contributions to the various fields in which they work.

The average person who gains broad knowledge from skittering about the Internet gets about as much real knowledge as the average person could get by reading a good newspaper daily.

But there are ways of finding depth on the Internet, if you know where to look. First, few users know anything about Telnet, Gopher, Archie, or even Veronica. To them the Internet is the Web. Unless one works very hard, what you will find by Web research are items that are young, in addition to being shallow. It takes real skill to get beyond a GeoCities page on Karen Duffy or Groucho Marx. Of course, the mechanics of the Internet is only part of the problem. The real problem is people.

I was raised near an excellent library in Detroit. As a youth I frequented it with my cousins and neighborhood friends. While I systematically went through the Dewey decimal system starting at 0.0, they were reading airplane books, build-a-birdhouse books, etc. That's neither good nor bad: I was what I was, they were what they were. I expect that Internet devotees will turn out to be the same as us bookworms. Some will dig deeply, broadly, and thoroughly. Some will read about airplanes. But not much in the structure of society will change because we have generalists. --Bernard W. Joseph www.appliedgrammar.com

Moving out of the Valley

I read with interest the response by Joseph Hardegree about what is so special about Silicon Valley. As a 15-year veteran of the Bay Area, and a very recent addition to the Kansas City area, I can tell you that Mr. Hardegree has left out a great deal about life in the Bay Area.

In the Bay Area, my wife and I were knocking down close to $100,000 a year, and we were always one paycheck away from being homeless. The trendy and not-so-trendy houses in the Bay Area are some of the most expensive in the world. Believe me, $499,000 doesn't get you much in the Bay Area. Secretaries in Silicon Valley sporting $50,000 salaries are often homeless. Multimillion-dollar-salaried teens driving Porsche 911s are a dime a dozen. Regular working stiffs knocking down 40K a year don't have a chance.

As far as outdoor activities, Mr. Hardegree failed to mention that it takes two to three hours to reach them, and once you've arrived you have to fight for parking and share the great outdoors with thousands of other folks trying to enjoy the day. Better bring some change; parking tickets there start at $35. Get your car towed due to a parking violation and you could spend $500 to get it back.

Should your phone line go out, count on at least 10 days before an overpaid flunky shows up to attempt to fix your line. Ditto with electricity and gas services. Should you call 911, be prepared to leave a message, and if you do get to a hospital, bring your lunch because you will probably be there for about 12 hours before being treated.

I'm willing to take my chances in the Kansas City area, where $125,000 homes are within my reach, and where my kids can get a real education. --Charles Huff charleshuff@onebox.com

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