The Wired Revolution.5

 

(This is the final in a five-part series)

Sometime later in 1997, along with the arrival of cooler weather and light rain in San Francisco came the final plans for a house-cleaning at Wired Inc. The in-house coup d'é·tat would result in the removal of scores of people, including the founders Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe.

In their stead, the company was going to be dismantled and sold off in pieces. The founders would be rewarded with a fair amount of compensation for their efforts, so they would be “fine.“ Not so much everyone else.

At the top of the corporate hit list was my name. The very fact that made me irreplaceable in the old order — my relationship with Louis — made me all too disposable in the new one.

I was to be replaced, naturally, by one of those sycophants who was always clamoring for my time in one-on-ones. 

So, on a late afternoon when the sun was going down to the west, suddenly and strangely there were no further meetings on my calendar. It was wide open. Then I was suddenly summoned to Louis’s office. 

I walked in to see three people waiting, none of smiling. Just three senior execs stiff and grim in manner. I was thanked for my service, given a small severance check, and summarily dismissed. 

Louis was one of the three and he looked immensely sad at my fate. But he had nothing to say. This was not of his doing. And that, I suppose, is the end of my story at Wired.

Like other difficult transitions in my life, I had prepared myself emotionally as much as possible for this moment. I’d packed up my family pictures and prepared my goodbye message. As I drove away from 660 Third Street, however, with tears in my eyes, I realized that you never can fully prepare for this kind of thing, so just remember that it was never about you and your fate in the first place.

EPILOGUE

The most significant accomplishment during my tenure on Third Street was Wired News, which survived the purge in 1997 and exists to this day.

And in one of life’s strange ironic twists, my oldest daughter, who would soon become an award-winning journalist herself, worked as as an intern at Wired News during the first decade of the new millennium.

None of her colleagues knew that her father had been one of the executives involved in creating their company or what that experience had been like. 

Many years later, now that our society has become divided by conspiracy theories, fake news and social media demagogues, I remember how hard a few of us tried to prevent that outcome.

I’d be less than truthful if I said we fully anticipated how bad the media collapse would turn out to be. We had inklings and we saw the danger signs, but we could not imagine the world as it’s turned out to be.

The problem is once the old media world — like Humpty Dumpty — teetered and fell off of the great digital wall of the Internet and burst into a thousand pieces, how were we ever going to put it together again?

The answer is, sadly, I don’t know that we can.

And that might be the end of this very tragic story, but for this one remaining truth: We have to try.

***
The Day After

From the moment Joe Biden walked out on the stage for last night’s debate with Donald Trump, it was apparent that he was going to have a bad night. He looked like a disoriented elderly person struggling to keep up, not a vigorous candidate for president.

From the perspective of an objective observer, what ensued over the subsequent 90 minutes was an unmitigated disaster for the Democratic Party.

It also was very sad because Biden is a good man who has been a terrific public servant.

***
Recently, I have been dealing with some of the less desirable inevitabilities of aging. As a stroke survivor and one diagnosed with Parkinsonism, I’m aware of the physical declines that are becoming undeniable.

As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes my gait resembles that of Biden’s — slow, shuffling, tentative.

But mentally at least, I’m still as sharp as I’ve ever been — at least that is the consensus of the family members and friends who see me most often.

Still, for physical reasons alone, I have to begin making plans for alterations in my living situation that may prove necessary in the foreseeable future.

These are exceptionally difficult conversations for me to have. They break my heart.

***

It is in the context of my own health challenges that I watched Biden struggle last night, mentally as well as physically. In my opinion, for his own good, it is time he stepped aside from running for re-election and finish out his term with as much grace and dignity as possible.

He in no way able to serve another four-year term in the way he would wish to.

Assuming he withdraws soon, that will clear the way for V-P Kamala Harris to mount a realistic challenge to Trump, and give her a fighting chance to prevail.

Let’s be clear about the stakes. Our democracy cannot afford for Trump, the most dangerous person in the land, to return to office.

At the White House, it is time for the Bidens to have that most difficult of conversations. Even if it breaks their hearts.

HEADLINE:

Relieved Trump, Biden End Debate After Realizing Neither Of Them Really Wants To Be President (The Onion)