(Jesse) was alienated from school. He wasn't learning much. He didn't have a lot of teachers who were close to him. He didn't have social acceptance. He had never been invited to a party in high school. He's very much a loner. |
He had done everything you can do on a computer. He asked for information. He educated himself online. He connected with people online. He explored the world online, |
I think the new reality that's converging all this is, you have on the one end this culture of extraordinarily gifted outsiders who have patched together the Internet. And then there's the rest of the world -- business, education and politics -- that suddenly has woken up to the fact that they desperately need the Internet. It's very important. And so they become sort of central while still not being in the mainstream. |
It's about the ability of human beings to change their lives using this radical new technology just the way Jesse did. Because he would not be standing here without the Internet. I wouldn't know him. He wouldn't be at this university, |
There's a streak of alienation running through this culture, ... There's a streak of braininess, obsessiveness. I mean, anybody can use a computer, but not anybody's a geek. |