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By Kathleen Ohlson and Jennifer Mears There was a time when networks were for geeks. No more. From cartoonists to quarterbacks, politicians to pundits, and anchors to editors, it seems as though almost everyone is hooked into networks these days. Here are a handful of high profile individuals who make time to log on and share their views about what the Internet has meant for them and what it will mean to the world at large. Scott Adams
"The first thing that occurs to me about the Internet is that it's much harder to be full of crap. Recently I was at a party where we got into a discussion about what percentage of the world's religions were Christian vs. Islamic [and others]. And everybody had a strong opinion. But within two minutes of Web searching, I had an entire printout that I could e-mail to everybody. It's just beautiful to be able to settle arguments like you never could have done before. I mean, my life has just been transformed by it. I literally have one computer at my right hand and one at my left. I had a special desk designed so I could have a Mac on the right and a Windows machine on the left. The Internet made the comic strip literally interactive because I'm getting mail today that will shape the cartoons that I do tomorrow. That, plus my Web site, really just transformed the strip. One of the things that has occurred to me recently is that virtually every service I use and every product I buy is never exactly what I had hoped it would be before I bought it. And I asked myself what will happen when I can get all the information I need on products from the Internet before I buy them. And I think the answer is I wouldn't buy three-quarters of the things I buy. So I'm wondering if the Internet will destroy civilization as we know it because so much depends on, for example, having four major car companies. But what happens when anybody can get on the Internet and find out which of the models in their price range is simply better in every way? People buy stuff because they don't know any better. What happens when everybody knows better?" BRIAN BASSET Brian Basset has drawn Adam@Home, based on the life of a stay-at-home
father, since 1984. As time evolved, so did Adam's career from Mr.
Mom to burgeoning home-office business owner. Basset recently returned
to a time before computers in Red & Rover, a cartoon strip that centers
on a boy and his dog in the 1960s.
"No way by any means am I a technology person. I enjoy it immensely,
and as a cartoonist it allows me to do my work faster. But part of
me resists change. The Internet is great - it's the ultimate catalog.
My kids order from it all the time.
Personally my life doesn't revolve around it, but it gives me options.
We check out where we're going for trips. . It gives me a connection
to readers like never before. Cartoonists are notoriously bad about
correspondence. I have a shoebox of snail mail! For the readers, it's
immediate contact from the cartoonist. They're more vested. I can
hear from a reader that I spoke to a couple of years ago and that's
pretty cool. . Red & Rover is the complete opposite of Adam@Home.
There are no computers or cell phones. The older I get, and I'm 43,
the more appealing my childhood gets. I got the idea when I was outside
one night with my kids and I asked them what the moon meant to them.
What came out was that it meant nothing. In their day and age, technology
has always been there and will always be there. The new comic strip
allows me to change gears; it lets me channel surf and reflect on
a time that doesn't exist."
SENATOR MARIA CANTWELL
 A former senior vice president of Real Networks, Sen. Maria Cantwell
(D-Wash.) has been in the thick of the dot-com revolution. She joined
Real Networks in 1995 after one term in Congress, overseeing the release
of RealAudio and several other digital media products. Now, Cantwell
is back in Washington, D.C., after using some of her dot-com earnings
to help fund her campaign to win the recent election, which ended
in a recount and her 2,200 vote win.
"Nothing symbolized the tremendous growth in network technologies
over the last decade more than the World Wide Web. Yet all network
technologies share a common theme: The innovations of the 1990s gave
individuals more control over and more choices in their daily entertainment,
work and communications activities. The popularization of the Web
browser and associated rich media applications created a mass medium
that allows individuals to experience entertainment, news and information
from around the world - without leaving home. Established news agencies
and corporate entertainment entities alike are on equal footing with
amateurs and independent programming sources. Ubiquitous e-mail is
an equally significant achievement of the last decade. E-mail has
broken down communications barriers in the office, reunited old friends
and given families spread throughout the country or world the ability
to stay in touch at any hour of the day. Looking forward, the key
technology advancements of the 21st century will likely share the
same themes as those of the 1990s. Digital video recorders will allow
people to select and watch TV programs on their own schedule. Digital
music devices allow people to easily take their music collection with
them when they leave their home. The government will play an important
role in ensuring that consumer protections are in place and new technologies
aren't exploited, whether that means protecting personal privacy or
copyrighted content. The most important role the government can play,
however, is to support sound fiscal policy to keep the economy strong
and to invest in the development of technology skills in our youth
to provide the next generation of high-tech workers."
GOV. PAUL CELLUCCI
 Since taking over the helm in 1997, Gov. Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts
has pushed businesses to take advantage of the Internet. Notably,
Cellucci has been an outspoken opponent to taxing businesses for their
Internet ventures, arguing businesses will be stifled if they have
to follow more procedures.
"Innovation has defined the American identity for more than 200 years.
The imagination and hard work of our nation's greatest minds have
produced history-changing inventions, from the telephone to the automobile
to the supercomputer, and most recently, to the Internet. All of these
innovations changed how we live and how we work. We use e-mail to
instantly and inexpensively correspond with friends across the world.
We monitor the stock market and buy and sell shares on-line. News
of devastating natural disasters reaches us instantly. One measure
of a public school is how many classrooms are wired to the Internet.
But perhaps the most significant impact of the Internet has been its
effect on our economy.
Today's information-based economy is producing an unprecedented level
of prosperity. The Massachusetts unemployment rate reached a historic
low of 2.3% in December. In the past year, the number of technology
jobs in our state increased by 8,500. Massachusetts has the highest
concentration of telecommunications companies per capita in the nation,
with one out of every five employees working in the field.
The Massachusetts economy of the new century bears no resemblance
to that of the late 1980s, when a few large computer corporations
dominated our business landscape. Today, our companies are smaller
and more versatile, able to adapt quickly to a changing market. They
are thriving start-up software, hardware and e-commerce firms, all
linked in their own way to the Internet."
ALAN DERSHOWITZ
Alan Dershowitz, lawyer, author and Harvard Law professor, sees the
value of the Internet in our world today, but is a self-described
Luddite. Even now, Dershowitz does all his writing by hand and hires
researchers to scour the 'Net, something he hasn't had the time to
learn how to do.
"Among people who have access to the Internet, who are really sophisticated
on the Internet - my students, my peers - it has really leveled the
playing field enormously. I can no longer come into a class and use
my superior knowledge gained over my 40 years of teaching as a real
advantage because all of my students are sitting in class with their
little Internet hooked-up computers. And when I say anything in class,
they check up on me. Everything is accessible. They know better than
we do how to use the search engines. Within 10 years, they have become
better researchers than we academics have. In fact, when I want information,
I have to hire young students because they do it better than any of
us. So there's that very important form of leveling, where the Internet
has unleveled the playing field enormously is between the haves and
have-nots. Those who can have access to the Internet and those who
can't. There's never been a greater gap, intellectually, educationally,
as there is now and is going to be. We thought the public schools
would level the gap. And from my parents' generation and indeed from
my generation they did. When you think today of young people who don't
have access to the Internet, minority people, poor people, the gulf
has become so much greater. And it's come to the point where it's
almost going to be impossible to catch up because this happens at
a very young age. The Internet also provides an important check and
balance. Today, with so many people having access, you can't fool
the people. Anybody can check up on you. I think the Internet has
in many respects encouraged honesty because it is harder to cheat.
You don't hear older people say anymore, 'Well, I know and you don't.'
Today anybody can know. You just press a button and you know."
SAM DONALDSON
 Veteran newsman Sam Donaldson, who co-anchors "20/20" and "This Week
with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts" on ABC, has been quick to recognize
the value of using the Internet to reach a large audience. He now
hosts SamDonaldson@abcnews.com, a daily Webcast that has touched on
issues from the Metallica vs. Napster copyright battle to the 2000
Presidential Campaign. He has also interviewed newsmakers such as
professional wrestler The Rock, U2's Bono and former Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright on this Internet-only show.
"I was oblivious. I got my first computer in 1996, and that's late
according to the experts. But that's not as bad as a certain former
president [Bill Clinton] who still can't type! When that furor started
with Col. [Oliver] North and e-mail was erased . at the time I thought:
what the hell is e-mail? . So you ask how come I'm doing this, I mean,
I'm in the twilight of my career. I've really gotten hooked on this.
I recently had on Jack Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's grandson, who
read some of Ernest's works. I never could sell this to the producers
of "20/20." I believe in the future, everything will go on the Internet,
including television. There won't be anymore television affiliates
as we know them - you'll have ABC News on the Web. How far out? It
could be five years, 10 years, I'm not sure, but it will happen. .
It's shrinking the world. Before, I would go on the telephone to call
Hong Kong, and now with the Internet I can do that even quicker. I
don't have to dial 12 numbers to talk to my buddies. I can do it in
10 seconds. . But I think where the Internet will impact society is
in a political sense. A dictator can't have a closed society. They
would have to do away with electrical power. They're not going to
keep people, who live to the age of 37, from the world of goods and
services. They're going to demand to have a share of these goods and
services. The societal impact of the Internet will level the world."
KERMIT THE FROG
Movie star. Roving reporter. Environmentalist. Musician. Kermit the
Frog is never afraid to try new things. Recently, he made the leap
onto the Internet and is quickly learning how useful - and powerful
- this communication avenue can be.
"Well, I really love surfing the 'Net. It took me a while to get online
[the swamp where I live didn't get DSL service until recently], but
now that I'm hooked up, I love it. And of course, I use the Internet
for e-mail - it helps me keep in touch with all of my friends who
live around the world. Still, there is a downside. Miss Piggy has
discovered that the Internet is probably one of the best ways in the
world to spread rumors. She finds it especially convenient to e-mail
her press releases directly to the tabloid reporters. . The Internet
has really transformed our lives. Instead of waiting in line at a
bookstore or record store, we can sit at home and wait for a book
and record Web sites to load into our computers. But, seriously, the
Internet has placed an enormous amount of information at our fingertips
[or in my case, flipper-tips]. With one mouse click, we can learn
stuff we would have had to spend hours looking up in a library. Of
course, there's no guarantee that everything we see on the Internet
is accurate. In fact, just the other day I saw a report online that
said Miss Piggy and I were going to have children. I'll take this
opportunity to categorically deny that Piggy and I are going to have...um...
tadpigs. I guess you have to take everything you see on the Internet
with a grain of salt [or in the case of that article, a shaker of
salt. Sheesh!]."
MICHAEL KINSLEY
 Michael Kinsley moved from the land of print media to online media,
launching Slate in 1996 and serving as its editor. Prior to joining
the Internet world, Kinsley served as senior editor at the New Republic
and co-host of Crossfire.
"I've seen the impact of the Internet in my writing. I tend to do
document-based reporting rather than interview people. I'm better
off in Redmond than I was in the heart of Washington, D.C., five years
ago. I now can procrastinate until Sunday evening. . The Internet's
given me the possibility to have a magazine due to two things: The
promise of the economy where you don't have to pay for printing and
postage, and it's a hot property for someone like me, or me. Every
journalist wants to start their own magazine, and they're told: "It
sounds like a great idea, but we're not going to fund it." In the
golden days of the late 1990s, they were willing to back you. . Shopping
has and will be transformed; reading has and will be transformed.
Personal financing - the idea of writing a check will be a joke. Entertainment
will be interesting. When the TV was invented, people thought: "Why
would anyone go to movie theaters?" People continue to go to movie
theaters. Gosh, education . it will seem absurd to go to a huge lecture
hall to listen to some guy talking usually on his schedule. Bottom
line, the hype is true in every aspect. Politically, it's unclear
what the impact will be. Everybody was geared up for the 2000 presidential
campaign to be the 'Internet election.' There wasn't much to say this
election about the Internet, even with the guy who invented the Internet.
. Personally, I thought the impact with e-mail was terrific, but I
started having my doubts about a year ago. Suddenly a convenience
turns into a flood. Something's changed in the past year. There's
no sign of a filter doing the job, somebody's got to invent it. .
If you have the best of talking and the best of writing, then it's
a great way of communication."
WILEY MILLER
The evolution of the Internet and its impact on everyday life. Cell
phones ringing in movie theaters. The financial boom and current downfall
of Internet businesses. Since 1992, Wiley Miller has evoked his thoughts
on modern-day life through his comic strip, Non Sequitur.
"There are great advantages and drawbacks. I got a computer about
five and a half years ago; computers weren't applicable to my work
up to that point. The computer and the Internet have expanded my work,
but the drawback is I spend a hell of a lot more time working! However,
we can deliver our work to the syndicates by just uploading onto the
Internet, whereas before you would need to mail it or use FedEx. It
allows me to expedite the process and I have more control over the
final product. . With e-mail, it's terrific because the readers can
get directly in touch with the cartoonists. Readers before would write
to the cartoonists . and by the time we got it, the letter would be
a month-old. It allows us to get directly in touch with them, and
correct any misunderstanding they have with the cartoon, or just thank
them for their comment. ... There have been exaggerations about its
impact one way or the other. I think the 'Net is in its infancy, like
the automotive industry was in the 1920s and 1930s. I've done cartoons
on the boom of the Internet. No matter what technology is created,
you still need to produce something tangible. You can escape for so
long, but there will be a shakedown. It's an industry like any other."
MIKA SALMI
 Remember when you were younger and you got your hands on your parent's
film projector? Maybe you filmed your adventures with the hopes of
some day becoming the next Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles or Steven
Spielberg. Well, those wanna-be filmmakers got their wish in 1998
when Mika Salmi founded AtomFilms, an Internet entertainment company
that allows independent filmmakers and animators to submit their works,
and enables Web users to download short films and animations.
"The Internet has provided our society with a forum for sharing and
exchanging creative ideas, technologic advancements and information.
No other medium to date has given people so much 'power' in terms
of interaction and communication. One example, coming from the Atom
side of our newly merged company, Atom/shockwave, is our ability to
bring filmmakers together with their audience, with 1-to-1 interaction
through rating and review channels, providing instant feedback to
the artist about their film or animation. More importantly, the 'Net
has provided independent filmmakers and animators with a platform
to showcase their talents to a worldwide audience. Up until now, many
of these same artists were without promotion or distribution outlets
- hence no one was able to see their work. The Internet has changed
all of that for artists, even outside of film.
The Internet helped AtomFilms become a brand name for short-form entertainment
by providing us with the channel to put shorts in front of millions
of people, and in essence resurrecting independent shorts as more
of a recognized art form. Atom/shockwave will continue leveraging
the Internet for promotion and distribution of short films and animations
as well as games and other entertainment."
STEVE YOUNG
 Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young is no stranger
to the Internet and networks. Young is chairman of Found, an e-business
service provider, and is a board member for network equipment maker
Foundry Networks. He has a personal Web page for football fans and
has done Webcasts for his children's foundation, Forever Young.
"The best thing you can say about the Internet is that it's leveling
the playing field for everybody. I'm really excited about what it
can do for education. It's brought great efficiencies from top to
bottom in everybody's lives. And it's just beginning to be understood.
We're in the second or third inning of this whole thing. Think about
broadband. Think about the possibilities of delivering information
to your home. We're going to think these were the archaic days, especially
in education. The way that we go to school is going to change dramatically
once we get the broadband delivery of content. My dream is to be able
to deliver K-12 educational content around the world for free. One
of the biggest costs in education is infrastructure - the bricks and
mortar to build a school. We've thought it through where all you need
is the generator to power the laptops every night and download from
the satellite and you've got a school. Access to computers is going
to become ubiquitous at some point. I'm convinced that in the near
future that having a laptop or the ability to connect to the Internet
will become more and more available. The Internet gives me the ability
to have another place, another forum, to interact. It's great because
you can write a message and everyone can get. If you're a 49er fan
living in New York, suddenly there's some way to have an outlet to
talk about the 49ers."
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Scott Adams is the man behind Dilbert, one of the high tech community's
favorite comic strips. One of the first cartoonists to publish an
e-mail address in his strip, Adams says Dilbert probably wouldn't
be the same without the Internet and its ability to keep him in
close contact with his fans.
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