这种媒介给了我们一种可能性（尽管也许有些虚幻）。那就是，我们可以建立一个没有以权威和专家为中介的世界。读者、作者和批评家的互换如此之快，以至他们在一个共同创造的社区里（比如WELL）变得越来越不相干（参看本雅明《革命的文学》；在线作为一种媒介远远超过报纸。在这种媒体里，读者很可能同时是作者）。我对这些人并不反感：他们来到我们的社区，在此生活和参与着，并分析(他)的体验且对此进行思考。我想，要反对那些瞧不起这个网络那个网络的“批评家”，就要把这些批评家看成了知识的投机分子。在把地图绘好之前，他们是懒得费劲去了解地形的。17
注释：
1JohnA.Barry,Technobabble(Cambridge,MA,1991),243.
2PeterFarb,WordPlay(NewYork,1975),69.
3Anonymouscorrespondent,inaprivateE?maillettertotheauthor,17April1993.
4KatherineBishop,“TheElectronicCoffeehouse,”NewYorkTimes,2August1992,V3.
5RobertE.Calem,“TheNetworkofAllNetworks,”NewYorkTimes,6December1992,F12.
6WELL?userknownas“outrider,”inthetopic“FlameBox,”intheMondo2000conference,29March1993.
7Themirrorimageof“electromechanical,”“mechatronic”isaJapanesecoinage;meaning“thefusionofmachineryandelectronics,”itstressestheimportanceoftheformerintheequation.SeeFrederikL.Schodt,InsidetheRobotKingdom:Japan,Mechatronics,andtheComingRobotopia(NewYork,1988),42-43,49.
8JudithBerck,“AllAboutElectronicBulletinBoards,”NewYorkTimes,19July1992,F12.
9JeanBaudrillard,“ThePrecessionofSimulacra,”inSimulations,trans.PaulFoss,PaulPatton,andPhilipBeitchman(NewYork,1983),2.
10JudithMoore,“TheWayoftheWELL,”inTheMonthly,1990.
11HowardRheingold,VirtualReality(NewYork,1991),346.
12GregTate,“I'mWhite!:What'sWrongwithMichaelJackson?”inFlyboyintheButtermilk:EssaysonContemporaryAmerica(NewYork,1992),95.
13Rheingold,VirtualReality,346.
14MarkDery,“Cyberculture,”SAQ91(Summer1992):509.
15CitedinStormingtheRealityStudio:ACasebookofCyberpunkandPostmodernFiction,ed.LarryMcCaffery(Durham,NC,1991),228.
16Ibid.
17WilliamRolfKnutson,acomputerprogrammer,fictionwriter,andoccasionalMondo2000contributor,inaprivateE?maillettertotheauthor,25March1993.