Kevin's on the road to Buddha-hood. He's a deeply spiritual man. He has an intellectual curiosity that is infinite. His Socratic method of inquiry and development is wonderful. It used to annoy me. I used to think, This guy's an editor. He's a futurist - that's fine - but I've got to do some business. Why is he bothering me with these questions? But the more time I spend with Kevin, the more I realize that the way his mind wanders across things keeps us all on the edge.

THE PUBLISHER
(Jane Metcalfe)

The Saint

"What we are talking about now is a communications revolution. That is exciting, because communication is the basis of culture. Culture is a process of communication among individuals and groups. We are amplifying and enhancing the foundations of culture and society with this communications revolution. All the dynamic and revolutionary effects we are going to see will come from these tiny chips being used in a communications mode."

Kevin Kelly believes that computers are over. "They're history," he says. "All the changes that computation is going to cause in our society have already happened. Computers primarily sped up society by automating a lot of processes, which was a sufficient change, but that is all it was." Kevin believes we are in the initial stages of a communications revolution, which he finds more exciting because communication is the basis of culture.

Kevin is executive editor of Wired. According to The New York Times, he is "Wired's 'Big Think' guy." He brings depth and fresh ideas to a publication that can otherwise get carried away with "attitude." He's a mature influence for a group of creative young people who work at a place characterized by Jaron Lanier as "a dormitory for the hormonally challenged." I have known Kevin since the early '80s when he was a contributor to the Whole Earth Software Catalog. He has also served as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog and the Whole Earth Review.

KEVIN KELLY is the executive editor of Wired magazine. He is the author of Out of Control (1994).