Just a quick e-mail to let you know how much I enjoy your magazine, and to thank you and your staff for being so helpful.

We moved to Japan from Toronto earlier this year. Not knowing much about computers, and knowing nothing about computers in Japan, we ordered a new computer while in Canada simply hoping that it would work and we could figure things out when we got here. Luckily, I discovered your magazine very early on at the American Club. It has been extremely helpful ever since.

I should also single out Mr. Caldwell and his information and help relating to the Internet and ISDN lines. His columns were of great assistance, and he has been helpful even beyond that.

I look forward to reading future issues. (So far, I've just read Computing Japan at the club or on airplanes, but since it has been so helpful, I should probably support the magazine with my subscription. I'll grab the subscription card next time I pick up an issue.)

Thanks again.

Mark Hunsaker

It is not usually my habit to get involved in other people's discussions, but the breathtaking arrogance of Mr. Caldwell's reply to Mr. Ashton [in the May CJ:Mail] cannot be allowed to pass unremarked. I assume from his assertions that he not only understands IRQ interrupts, but can explain the inner workings of ATMs, and repair both his refrigerator and the office photocopier should they malfunction. After all, these, too, are tools of this modern age, which he seems to believe we should all know intimately to survive.

But, I am willing to bet he cannot. And why should he? Because, you see, unlike the over-hyped, undertested, and oversold products of the computer hardware and software industries, these manifestations of modern technology generally do the job they were created to do without requiring either constant fussing by the consumer, or the assiduous attention of a trained cadre of engineers just to keep them running smoothly. It constantly astonishes me, as a toiler in the field of computer communications, that the consumer allows him/herself to be stampeded into paying for shoddy merchandise because the possession of the latest version is deemed to be necessary to corporate survival or personal status. Imagine the reactionÉ if the world's photocopier manufacturers suddenly began touting products that malfunctioned at least once a week, came accompanied by thick manuals written in technospeak, expected that most servicing would be carried out by your office staff, and blamed all malfunctions on user ignorance.

Much as I normally admire your work, Mr. Caldwell, this time you are flat wrong. It is not at all an issue of "overpaid, underskilled, self-important employees" without the nous to handle their tools. The vast majority of people who work on computers are being paid to do something quite different than tweak their tools, whether it is keep the books, distribute office memos, write analytical reports, or take hotel reservations. The fact that they cannot get on with the jobs that they are paid to do without becoming minor experts in maintaining their computers is a major problem in our industry, not theirs. And, yes, that is what IT or MIS departments are for: to keep the blasted machines running smoothly so that the people who rely on them can get on with the jobs they are paid to do.

Cathrine E. Lowther

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