William Gibson Interviewed - Giuseppe Salza

Encryption programs are stronger and stronger. There is a new one called Stego, which is free on Internet. It takes written material and hides it in visual elements. I send a digitized e-postcard from Cannes and there is half a novel hidden in its data. I've seen it work. I haven't understood the half of it yet.

Man, the Clipper chip is fucked anyway. Most of the new edge guys are into computers, and they're coming up with new gear nobody had the slightest clue about five years ago. I saw recently a prototype which looked like a beeper, but it was a virtual telephone. Unfortunately, we have to deal with more paper than before. We are submerged by tons of paper!

Wait a second. A few minutes you said you're not into hi-tech, and now you're raving about it…

I'm not a techie. I don't know how these things work. But I like what they do, and the new human processes that they generate.

What is in your opinion the most important technological breakthrough of our society in recent years ?

My favorite piece of technology is the Walkman. It forever changed the way we perceive music. The Walkman has given us the opportunity to listen to whatever kind of music we wanted wherever we wanted.

The Fax machine is also an amazing thing. We live in a very different world because of that: instantaneous written communication everywhere. It is also a very political technology, as the Tien An Men Square events told us.

What about e-mail ?

E-mail is very glamorous. Way too glamorous.