Happy Birthday Bill W.


There's a right time and a wrong time for just about everything (and if you ask Kohelet, he'll tell you that it's for everything under heaven. The Byrds, via Pete Seeger, definitely agreed.). I don't know precisely what the right time to deal with the issue of internet addiction is, since on the whole I think it's always the wrong time. There is, however, a serendipitous time, and that's now.

And why is that? Because it gives me a chance to tie-in to the birthday of one of the most significant people of the twentieth century, but also one of the least known: Bill Wilson, known, if he's known at all, as Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The organization has a web site, though it's basically a meat and potatoes sort of "here are the facts" site. Still, a lot can be learned from visiting the site, if not enough of AA's illustrious history and success stories. Bill W. doesn't show up much on the web either, though at least TIME magazine recognizes him as an important figure of the 20th century.



But a bit of an explanation about the title is called for. It can, after all, be read not only from the perspective of a loss of control over excessive web usage, but also as a sign of resignation toward what we once thought was going to be an empowering technology. I admit that I'm dubious about those possibilities, even though a number of years ago I thought differently, but this particular column isn't meant as an examination of them. Perhaps another time.


Go to: admit we are powerless over the web