Trainspotting from previous page....
summer reading for some. It is not very

escapist, though it somehow manages
to become surreptitiously fun. Nor is
this a book you want to be reading on
your lunch break from your summer
job or at any other time while eating.
Try reading the Traditional Sunday
Breakfast chapter while eating a
traditional Sunday breakfast, for
example, and, guaranteed, you won't

The Road Ahead
Bill Gates
Penguin
Trent

Why is it that every time | see the
cover of The Road Ahead—which
features Gates, grinning from ear to
ear, standing in the middle of an open
highway—why is it that every time |
see this cover, | picture a semi truck
bearing down on the oblivious Mr. Bill?

It’s not out of any strong contempt
for the man; it’s that he has $500-
million in pocket change. It goes
against.my moral principals that one
man should have enough cash to buy
a small African nation and feed its
people for a decade.

This book doesn’t help his situation
any. At times patronizing, at times
moralizing, The Road Ahead isn’t The
Future. Call it The Future Lite. He’s no
McLuhan, or Toffler, and he focuses on
the trappings of the future—appli-
ances, programs, toys, and how the
future will effect business—instead of
the implications of the future.

Actually, his view of the future strikes
me as a glorified version of Microsoft®
Encarta®. Not surprising, considering
that Encarta® is an attempt by Gates
to mould the future into being. To
define not its shape, but its interface.

Not surprising, also, that Gate’s
vision of the future is orderly, intuitive,
and extremely whitebread. It’s not
quite the shiny stainless steel utopia
where technology is god, and every-
one is healthy, wealthy and wise, but

4.28 Books *

eat much.

it

for it to be bleakly illurpinatin ‘
the human body is chen 7

before has my skin felt So vi tt as
did when reading Trainspotting: » «
f Vv f
it Yaad u {

it’s close.

It is also a future where capitalism
reigns supreme. Whereas many
technophiles look to the Internet to
create a giant functioning
anarcosyndicalistic commune, where
information flows freely at the touch of
a button, Gates envisions a future
where capitalism runs perfectly. He
Calls it ‘friction-free capitalism,’ and it is
central to his vision of the future.
Unfortunately, he may be right. Oh, not
about capitalism running perfectly, but
about capitalism dominating the
Internet. He who has the most money
usually wins, and right now, Gates has
the lion’s share.

Gates goes on at great lengths that
one of the benchmarks of the future
will be cross-compatibility. The ability
to move documents across the
information highway from one compu-
ter to another no
matter what platform,
no matter what pro-
gram. But he shoots
his argument in the
foot by including a CD-

Rom that is only
compatible with
Micrososft® Win-
dows®. Compatibility,
yes, but only with
Microsoft® products, it
seems. Sorry Gates,
but | did not play with
your CD-Rom, as it

—T h e] re
Nor is Trainspotting
weather book. Iti is a ala) O

and brooding. | was glad | re orf 56) i
though | highly recom

 

Bess

   

 

 

    
 

  

Nena >

was not compatible with my Mac.

The worst thing about this book is
critical mass, or as Gates calls it, a
positive feedback cycle. Gates is ina
prime position to define the future of
the Internet and remake it in the image
of this book. Which would destroy the
entire spirit of the information revolu-
tion. To quote Steve Jobs, “The most
important thing for the Web is to stay
ahead of Microsoft.”

Amen to that.