Review by Jenny Wolmark
Principal Lecturer, Department of Design, University of Lincoln, UK
This new book by Sue Thomas is an engaging account of journeys taken in both the real and the virtual world. Sue gives us cybertheory with a lighter touch than we are accustomed to, as she explores some of the similarities and differences between these worlds. She describes a series of 'real life' travels and moments - a trip to California, looking at the night sky from her garden in England, travelling by train across Australia, and the oddly disconnected nature of these experiences vividly makes the point that real life travels are no more or less strange than travels in the virtual world.
Any one who feels both seduced and appalled by the complexities of embedded technology will empathise with Sue's account of the personal highs and lows of her own intimate relationship with the technology. The book breaks down the barriers between forms and fictions, and in doing so it reveals the complex nature of embedded technology in a way that is both witty and wise.
Hello World contains genuinely helpful information about the myriad workings of the web, ranging from email to chat rooms, and it also acknowledges that we are not all comfortable with the technology. One of the most entertaining sections of the book simply consists of a list of worries, doubts and fears about the Net, drawn from responses to a trAce survey of UK writers and the Internet and presented without comment. The list is exhaustive and perhaps because of this, it also becomes a curiously moving account of the fear that technology can induce. To balance this, however, Sue has included some beautiful net haikus, and best of all, a hilarious account of cybersex.
Hello World draws both on Sue's own extensive experience as a creative writer, and her equally extensive cyberlife experiences, and she generously shares the many insights she has gained. It is an accessible and engaging book that informs and inspires, and most importantly, it is written without a trace of condescension. For that alone, it should reach the widest possible audience.
February, 2004.
