The State of the Media, which is what this blog is all about, is pretty damned depressed, especially with the announcement of the lay off of Ed Sperling from Electronic News. Ed was, the most accomplished journalist in the electronics industry trade press that I knew, mostly because his experience was parallel to mine in our march from daily news to technology. He was just a good newsman.

However, the point of this blog is not just to kvetch that media is changing but to embrace the uncertainty. And the only way to do that is to put the changes into historical context. That's why I'm encouraging all of you to get a copy of James Burke's THE KNOWLEDGE WEB. The book is actually written the way you would search the internet. There are reference numbers in the margins that divert you to other sections of the book so you can see how the web of knowledge actually develops in multiple direction. You can read the book traditionally from page one to the end. or go off in any other direction. No matter which way you go you are encouraged that something wondrous, if not wonderful will happen.

If you want to save your money, you can also go to the James Burke Institute site at www.k-web.org and participate in the growth of the knowledge web.

If you're depressed about the state of the media right now, this would be a good way to put it into a positive light. Everything is changing and it is all good.

FYI, I'm lining up interview that will start to be posted next month. And a State of the News Release will come out next week. The leg is healing nicely (thanks to all who asked) although I do miss the self-administered morphine drip.