SevenQuestions: Carl Steadman: he doesn't Suck anymore

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Seven Questions

Carl Steadman has often been accused of outright genius in the days since he created Suck.com with a couple of his smarty-pants pals. Lately he ruminates for The Industry Standard and works as a Web site developer, a job he did for a Minnesota newspaper before heading west to work for the folks at Wired Digital. 20 October 1998

1 You've been interviewed tons of times over the years. Describe something you're glad they never asked you about. Back to the 7Q index

The question I most fear: So when are you going to do something that matters?

Then again, I ask myself that one often enough, as it is.

2 You've been something of a visionary about the possibilities of the Web. How do you think the possibilities have changed as the medium went from fad to mainstream?

I don't think the medium has gone mainstream. Once it has, we won't consider it a medium anymore. One of the consequences of ubiquity is that you don't realize it's there - which is why, once IP is everywhere, the Net will be a considered a medium not because it's a channel of communication, but because it will have become an enveloping and intervening substance that brokers all our interactions. Needless to say, we're a still long way off from that.

3 Tell us about a technological revolution that's happening under our noses yet outside our notice.

Here's what I find most interesting: Many of the early adopters of the Web have become overly dismissive of new technologies and applications.

It seems as if they've found the tools they've learned to rely on -- this is my e-mail, this is my browser -- and they've stopped there. They're not listening to Internet radio (think FM radio meets the Gong Show: The reject button replaces the eject button); they're not using instant messaging (the application which truly enables the virtual officeplace: "Can I run an idea past you?").

Maybe too many people installed too many plug-ins to view too many flying logos, but we've moved extremely quickly from overly exuberant hype to cautionary pragmatism to enthusiastic indifference in a space which remains far from mature.

4 What was one of the early clues that you weren't like other people?

"People remember you better if you always wear the same outfit."

I read that, once, and then proceeded to wear the same Air Force jacket to school every day, day in and day out, for an entire year.

That wasn't evidence that I wasn't like other people, of course. But it did make manifest my desire to be unlike other people.

5 Describe an endearing feature of a Minnesota winter.

Even the most average people cut truly striking figures in long overcoats.

Also: Reaching out for a companion's hand to make sure neither one of you falls on a particularly icy sidewalk. Not that it really works that way - it's really more of a pact that if one of you goes down, you're taking the other one out with you.

6 What line of work do you suppose you'd be in if you'd been born 200 years ago?

It's two years from now. What line of work will I be in?

It's the day after tomorrow. Who's going to pay for my lunch?

7 What will you do with yourself when the Y2K bug shuts down the nation's power grid and you can't boot up your computer?

Rob wants to write a nail-biting edge-of-your-seat Y2K thriller. He'd call it Y2KAOS! If he gets started on it right now, he claims, there's still time to get it in bookstores and do the talk show circuit. Because after Jan 1st, 2000, we're talking remainder bin.

I've already found a post-Web publishing paradigm. I've been postering my column across South Park -- an established high-traffic site with a well-targeted demographic. So I suppose I can best prepare for Y2KAOS! by investing in a large stockpile of carbon paper. There'll be no stopping me - the means of production will be mine.

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Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan >Back to new SevenQuestions
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Carl Steadman has often been accused of outright genius in the days since he created Suck.com with a couple of his smarty-pants pals. Lately he ruminates for The Industry Standard and works as a Web site developer, a job he did for a Minnesota newspaper before heading west to work for the folks at Wired Digital.		20 October 1998
1	You've been interviewed tons of times over the years. Describe something you're glad they never asked you about.	Back to the 7Q index
	The question I most fear: So when are you going to do something that matters? Then again, I ask myself that one often enough, as it is.
2	You've been something of a visionary about the possibilities of the Web. How do you think the possibilities have changed as the medium went from fad to mainstream?
	I don't think the medium has gone mainstream. Once it has, we won't consider it a medium anymore. One of the consequences of ubiquity is that you don't realize it's there - which is why, once IP is everywhere, the Net will be a considered a medium not because it's a channel of communication, but because it will have become an enveloping and intervening substance that brokers all our interactions. Needless to say, we're a still long way off from that.
3	Tell us about a technological revolution that's happening under our noses yet outside our notice.
	Here's what I find most interesting: Many of the early adopters of the Web have become overly dismissive of new technologies and applications. It seems as if they've found the tools they've learned to rely on -- this is my e-mail, this is my browser -- and they've stopped there. They're not listening to Internet radio (think FM radio meets the Gong Show: The reject button replaces the eject button); they're not using instant messaging (the application which truly enables the virtual officeplace: "Can I run an idea past you?"). Maybe too many people installed too many plug-ins to view too many flying logos, but we've moved extremely quickly from overly exuberant hype to cautionary pragmatism to enthusiastic indifference in a space which remains far from mature.
4	What was one of the early clues that you weren't like other people?
	"People remember you better if you always wear the same outfit." I read that, once, and then proceeded to wear the same Air Force jacket to school every day, day in and day out, for an entire year. That wasn't evidence that I wasn't like other people, of course. But it did make manifest my desire to be unlike other people.
5	Describe an endearing feature of a Minnesota winter.
	Even the most average people cut truly striking figures in long overcoats. Also: Reaching out for a companion's hand to make sure neither one of you falls on a particularly icy sidewalk. Not that it really works that way - it's really more of a pact that if one of you goes down, you're taking the other one out with you.
6	What line of work do you suppose you'd be in if you'd been born 200 years ago?
	It's two years from now. What line of work will I be in? It's the day after tomorrow. Who's going to pay for my lunch?
7	What will you do with yourself when the Y2K bug shuts down the nation's power grid and you can't boot up your computer?
	Rob wants to write a nail-biting edge-of-your-seat Y2K thriller. He'd call it Y2KAOS! If he gets started on it right now, he claims, there's still time to get it in bookstores and do the talk show circuit. Because after Jan 1st, 2000, we're talking remainder bin. I've already found a post-Web publishing paradigm. I've been postering my column across South Park -- an established high-traffic site with a well-targeted demographic. So I suppose I can best prepare for Y2KAOS! by investing in a large stockpile of carbon paper. There'll be no stopping me - the means of production will be mine.
Back to SQ index Copyright 1998, Thomas L. Mangan		>Back to new SevenQuestions main page