Gizmos, Gadgets and Games

I am a little older than your averge computer gamer (I’m 40), and last summer I made the choice to give up television so I would be able to spend more of my leisure time playing computer games (“Sims Family Values,” Next Frontiers, Nov. 25). I did this because my leisure time had become more limited, and I found online games more entertaining than television. The fact is that television forces you to be passive, while online games allow you to become an active participant. Like Paul Kim from your article, I find a good session of Warcraft III (or Neverwinter Nights) to be significantly more entertaining than any television show. I don’t know if online gaming will have a serious effect on the public’s participation in other forms of entertainment (like television and movies), but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Mark Clarke San Diego, Calif.

Your article on computer games says, “Large and small, these advances are changing and enriching our private lives.” But what about our social lives? To compete in this new global market, we need educated, strong individuals who can handle the tedium of everyday life, not those who hide in a room where they can control everything. You did not point out the negative side effects of long hours spent participating in this antisocial activity. It can be as addictive as drugs, gambling or alcohol. Is this an art form that really enriches us, or has it become the everyday life for millions? Sam Hopkins Bakersfield, Calif.

In your story on the cars of the future, you described vehicles with electronic devices suitable for the 21st century (“Living Room, to Go”). Unfortunately, all these devices are still powered by an engine that has changed little since the 19th century. The gadgets are nice, but I will be more impressed when automobiles have high-fuel-efficient, low-pollution engines that are suitable for the present day. Fortunately, there are some engineers who are starting to work on this. Mark Holtzapple College Station, Texas

The technological wonders in the cars of the future are amazing. Massaging seats, mood lighting, navigation systems with closed-circuit TV and traffic updates–even joysticks instead of steering wheels! If automakers can perform all these miracles, one would think they could develop a car that runs on something other than scarce fossil fuel. Elizabeth Oakman Columbia, S.C.

Keith Naughton’s review of the BMW 745i, “Start Me Up (Just Try),” struck a nerve. With a long career as an engineer, I welcome new technology. However, automobiles have been around a long time, and the addition of obscure features and gadgets for their own sake creates a complexity that makes me very irritable. New technology should be used to make automobiles simpler and more intuitive to operate, not less. A generation that grew up on videogames is now designing luxury cars for a generation that mostly wants simplicity of operation. BMW chief designer Chris Bangle is supposed to ensure that his engineers design for the customer and not get carried away by their own desire for “gee whiz” features. Unnecessary complexity is bad business, and Bangle’s approach to engineering is bad for BMW. Charles Fernald Hillsboro, Ore.

Your article about online gaming was great, but you forgot a genre that pioneered massive multiplayer games: flight simulation. Since the late 1980s, there have been flight simulations that allow large numbers of gamers to hop into faithfully re-created classic aircraft, take to the virtual skies and dogfight. And with the new generation of online flight simulators still popular, the genre is looking up. Not everyone who plays online wants to cast spells, get a virtual job or run around as robots. Some of us like to touch the clouds. John Sponauer Southington, Conn.

As a travel professional for 26 years, I find the Internet to be a valuable tool for travel arranging (“Put Yourself Here”). Not only do I sell travel through the Web, but I regularly use it for research. However, I am bothered by your article because it perpetuates the public’s assumption that the Internet is the only place to find travel bargains. A recent customer who wanted to travel to Germany during the holidays complained that the lowest fare she could find online was $1,400. I found her a fare for less than $400. Another customer inquired about a luxury hotel. Because the travel agency for which I work belongs to a consortium with negotiated hotel rates, I was able to quote a room at a nightly rate $80 less than that for the same room on the hotel’s Web site. A good travel agent will save you time and can often save you money. And if you ever encounter delays, cancellations or emergencies during your trip, the Internet can’t help you out. Only your travel agent can do that. Diane Embree Chatsworth, Calif.

It is gratifying that the cars of the future will be engineered to make our daily 82-minute commute so delightful. Now, how about a family vehicle that is nonpolluting, gets 50-plus miles to the gallon and costs below $20,000? That would be engineering. Irwin Fried Baltimore, Md.

Your article on computer games says that anyone who hasn’t heard of The Sims must be “a recluse or watch nothing but C-Span.” The implication is that those of us who have more pressing concerns than keeping up with the latest electronic time-waster are somehow culturally or personally deficient. I contend that, on the contrary, a person who does not spend all his free time online is much more likely to interact with the real world in some positive way. I find it much more edifying to read a good book or (gasp!) talk to real people than to build a simulated “life” on a computer game. My real life keeps me stimulated enough. Jessica Chau New Britain, Conn.

After finishing “Living Room, To Go,” about the conversion of our automobiles into moving entertainment centers, I felt compelled to jump into my 1966 Corvair turbo–no heater, no radio and everything manual–and drive. It was so much fun! Don Kellogg Brighton, Mich.

India’s Sad Epidemic

It was indeed disheartening to discover in NEWSWEEK the extent to which AIDS has ravaged India, my home country, a place I left about a year ago in search of greener pastures (“A Deadly Passage to India,” Nov. 25). Ironically enough, this same yearning for freedom that brings students to the United States has also caused the now undeniable threat of AIDS. Geoffrey Cowley expresses surprise that a country such as India, deeply engulfed in its religious and orthodox norms, has gotten to such a state despite the taboo against free sex. In a country where celluloid sex scenes don’t go further than a closed bedroom door, it is hard to imagine that AIDS has now become an epidemic. Perhaps the problem is that such scenes do stop at the bedroom door. If they would progress two stages further and show the consequences of not using condoms, the millions of people who derive their education from television and movies might be forewarned. But some Indians prefer to keep their eyes closed. It is time for unwilling eyes to be opened, and for people to learn the lesson that could mean the difference between life and death. Karthika Swamy Bloomfield, N.J.

On my fourth trip to India, at the age of 23, I saw a part of the country that I had not seen before: a red-light district. I didn’t set out to see it–it just happened. Unlike in Amsterdam or Tokyo, Mumbai’s red-light district was not set in one area. I remember riding in a taxi through the posh parts of the city listening to my cousin point out the vegetable market and, next to it, the rows of huts that housed prostitutes and their clients. I remember, vividly, seeing women my age and much younger, hanging out of the doorways, their hair loose. I honestly believe there is no shame in what these women do as a profession. What I do believe is shameful, however, is that the system allows them to continue working the way they do, unprotected and uneducated. It’s time the words “sex” and “AIDS” became a part of the Indian vocabulary. Neel Pandya Clinton Township, Mich.

Your article about AIDS in India is another example of government for the benefit of the governors and not the governed. India has spent billions of dollars on nuclear bombs in a paranoid reaction to its neighbors in Pakistan. It should instead be using this money to address the public-health issues of its citizens. Joseph Turner Belleville, Ill.

Geoffrey Cowley’s comprehensive and timely article has some contradictory statements on the AIDS situation in the red-light area of Kalighat in Kolkata. He rightly compliments two nongovernmental organizations, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) and Sanlaap, for their unique achievements in controlling HIV/AIDS among sex workers and their children, but, in the beginning of his article, he depicts the terrible miseries of the HIV/AIDS-infected sex workers and their children in Kalighat. I have been doing field research on prostitution in India for the past six years (most recently in Kolkata) and can attest to the highly fruitful intervention of both the DMSC and Sanlaap among sex workers and their children in Kolkata, as well as in other parts of the West Bengal state. Moni Nag Adjunct Professor of Anthropology Columbia University New York, N.Y.

Al-Jazeera: Friend or Foe?

While Qatar is regarded as one of our staunchest allies in the Arab world, the TV station Al-Jazeera, based in that nation, has proved to be the greatest source of concern for our image throughout the Middle East (“Live From America: Arab TV,” Periscope, Nov. 25). With programming that can be considered not only anti-Israel and anti-Semitic but also anti-American, it has helped raise the level of hatred against the West. If these are the actions of our friends, the United States does not need enemies in this region of the world. Nelson Marans Silver Spring, Md.

Rather than wringing their hands over the David Duke interview on Al-Jazeera television, U.S. officials could point out that there are few countries in the world where people are free to speak counter to government policy. America should be proud of its First Amendment rights and point that out to Al-Jazeera. Marion Vassilakos Highland, Calif.

Happy Litigation

As a trial lawyer and mediator, I read with interest Jeff Rasley’s article on mediation’s “changing the face of the American legal system” (“The Revolution You Won’t See on TV,” My Turn, Nov. 25). Mediation promotes a win-win environment where both sides of the case can feel that justice has been served. There are no losers in mediation; it is far more cost-effective than a jury trial would ever hope to be, and these costs–plus the delay of a jury trial–do not make much sense for most cases. Moreover, mediation brings about a finality to a legal dispute. Even if a litigant wins a jury trial, appeals almost inevitably follow. Without mediation or another alternative dispute-resolution mechanism, there would have to be many more judges and courtrooms to handle the ever-increasing volume of litigation. Mediation is indeed changing the face of the legal system, and it is a welcome change. Neil J. Orleans Dallas, Texas

Back in the late ’70s, Elkhart, Ind., began a victim-offender mediation program. Many said it could not be done–that victims and offenders would eat each other up in any face-to-face meeting. But, from my experience, that was not the case. More often than not, there was an amazing coming to terms with what happened, and feelings of anger were resolved. As Jeff Rasley has witnessed, it is not a perfect program, but the outcome is much more positive. We mediators sometimes wondered if we were being careful enough with our victims and their legitimate feelings of victimization. But people often walked out of the meeting able to talk to one another in a civilized way. If only we could persuade our national leaders to use such negotiation tactics. Earl Sears Tiskilwa, Ill.

Supply-Side Redux

Finally, someone brings to light those nasty little details in the Republicans’ economic program that they keep sweep-ing under the rug as they talk about “pro-growth” policy (“Your Money and the GOP,” Nov. 25). One only needs to glance briefly at this program to realize it’s targeted at big business and the 1 to 2 percent of wealthiest people in the country. Those in the Republican Party who don’t think deficits should matter should look back 15 to 20 years. This “pro-growth” program is nothing more than supply-side economics with a different name. It didn’t work then, and I can’t understand why anyone would think it would work now. Brian P. Cohoon San Diego, Calif.

Ivy League Preschools

The obsession to enroll one’s children in “Ivy League” preschools at all costs is damaging, immoral and just plain wrong (“Playground of the Rich,” Nov. 25). Formal schooling aside, parents remain the primary role models for young children, who pick up signals about priorities even at this tender age. In this kind of competition, children absorb patterns of dishonesty and corruption, patterns that could be deemed acceptable if such behavior gets them into their school of choice. The schools themselves are not blameless, either. They have become accessories to this game of early-childhood roulette, allowing its excesses to continue and enjoying the status that accrues. The point of preschool is to create a warm and loving environment in which early moral sensibilities, interpersonal skills and academic competencies are developed and honed. It should not be upended in favor of parental social climbing. David J. Schnall, Dean Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University New York, N.Y.

No Average Joe

I have heard Al Gore speak in person a couple of times and was attracted to his genuine warmth and wit. I remain surprised by accusations that he is pedantic and stiff (“Retooling Gore [Even More] for ‘04,” Periscope, Nov. 25). What amazes me is that we keep hearing a message from the media that the American public wants a “good ole boy” like the average guy on the street to run our country. I would like a president who is smarter than the average person. Thank goodness the 18th-century public appreciated brilliant, poised (stiff?) men in our Founding Fathers. The reason we are not getting leaders the caliber of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson is that we criticize the very qualities that made our Founding Fathers great men. Nancy Riley Hockessin, Dela.

Ozzy Who?

Thank you for the information-packed story on the Osbournes (“Return to Ozz,” Nov. 25), discussing the scoop on Sharon’s new talk show, Jack’s blossoming acting career, Kelly’s new record album and Ozzy’s whirlwind self-promotion at the Emmys and appearing with Barbara Walters. Not to mention the family’s new line of underwear. Pardon me, but who are the Osbournes? Rick Mervis Hollywood, Calif.

Correction

In “Call Me Any Time” (Periscope, Nov. 25), we report that Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) won re-election in 2002. In fact, Nelson ran, and won, in 2000 and does not come up for re-election until 2006.