The Culture of Marketing and the Marketing of Culture
Whole Earth Review, (Spring 1987)

Marketing people are… different from you and me. Even if you and me are marketing people. Here is a guide to five principles inherent in marketing culture, which lay beneath the surface of both the advertising agency/marketing department culture, and the media that envelop the rest of us. For example: "Believing in your product is irrelevant." (read article...)

The Health Hazards of Computer Terminals
Whole Earth Review, (Fall 1985)

More than 15 years later, this still stands up -- alas. What can be known, or not known, about the long-term effects of low-level radiation? I'm rather proud of this assemblage of material. (read article...)

The Ambivalent Miseriesof Personal Computing
Whole Earth Review (January 1985)

Part of a special issue of Whole Earth on the perils and unintended consequences of computers -- an issue chilling in its prescience. I described the psychological effects of these new machines on me: "I work faster, but my time feels out of control…. Computers encourage impatience because they work at a different pace than I do." And so on. (read .pdf article...)

How Not to Commit Suicide
CoEvolution Quarterly (1981)

This article was originally published in 1981, for CoEvolution Quarterly -- my first major article, and one that (I think) still rings true two decades later. Stewart Brand, the editor/founder of CoEvolution Quarterly, suggested the topic: What actually happens when you try to take your life? 90% of the people who attempt to take their lives fail to do so -- instead, they remain alive, enduring varying degrees of remorse, injury, and forcible restraint as a result. Over the years, several people have told me that this article saved their lives, by giving them a more realistic perspective of the actual effect of the deed on themselves and on others. This is probably the most popular article on this site, judging from the number of hits received, which suggests to me that it may still be useful. (read article...)

The History of Magazines on a Timeline
CoEvolution Quarterly (1981)

Published in the Fall of 1979, this article began as a prospectus -- "I am interested in creating a magazine." I was a journalist and graphic design student then, at the University of California at Berkeley. I never did create a magazine. I went to work at Whole Earth instead. But in the process I looked back at the evolution of magazines and realized that the story of magazine history --the interplay of formats, communities, ideas, and advertising -- was fascinating in its own right. This article presciently looked ahead and (sort of) foretold the coming of the Web, 14 years later. In 2001, I developed the ideas further into a current piece on the next evolution of magazines and related media: The Next Wave of Format.    (read article...)

Personal Computer Networks with Willy Davis
CoEvolution Quarterly, Fall 1979

In 1978, I was driving around the Bay Area when I heard a guy named Willy Davis, on the radio, describe a peculiar phenomenon called a computer network. I was a journalism student (UC Berkeley) looking for a thesis subject; this computer networking stuff became a preoccupation for the next 15 years. In this survey article, published in 1979, I examine all the options available then, including precursors to the WELL and America Online. And, of course, the Web, which no one foresaw then.