Sometimes I laugh out loud at myself as I go to open my email box (with much trepidation, these days). Remembering the early AOL days and the excitement that almost-instant communication gave me, I find it sadly amusing that I face that download of 20, 30 or more email messages per day with almost fear. Time is of the essence and who has any?

To respond to this question, I found that my mind returned again and again to the nature of the Internet, itself, and its marvelous capacity for delivering everything from the daily news and one's local weather, to the latest disaster or wedding from far-away places (sometimes, the same event :-). Not just any old newsprint, either. Every page offers something in the way of a multimedia experience, it seems. Moreover, the quality of website layout and the ever-changing interactive choices grows abundantly every day.

It has been my belief for several years that the greatest challenge -- the most important technical issue -- that we are dealing with ... is simply KEEPING UP.

This is a daily issue for all of us who are deeply involved in the new media, the new technologies. It is quickly becoming a daily issue with everybody, from businesses to schools to those preparing tonight's dinner. The wealth of information is the vanguard of the Internet. The manner in which it is presented is becoming more of a multimedia experience, each time we access the Internet or even our latest software. This wealth of information, for most of us, has also become what I began to call "information overload," several years back. I've started to see that phrase wherever I am reading, so in the great "collective thought," I'm not the only one who sees it this way. Before my computer days, I called it "sensory overload," as walking through a large grocery store or a discount store, caused almost identical sensations and thoughts.

We who work with this media are now dealing daily with the fact that our latest toys are practically extinct the second they cross our threshhold. You don't even have time to peruse the manual, and the version has has gone up a notch! I see this as perhaps the most tremendous challenge for us -- in industry and for the school teacher, this will cause not only financial disaster on already-stretched budgets, but also the stress of trying to stay one step ahead of one's customer or student. Yet, that is exactly what we must do.

I subscribe to many online 'ezines that pertain to this industry, from multimedia to web development, to software-specific sites and programming tutorials. Everyone seems to have their daily, weekly or "whenever" issues. They are extremely up-to-date and informative. I also subscribe to several print trade magazines, and still find joy in a well-laid-out, heavily illustrated mag! They also are highly informative. I've begun to notice that excellent reviews, overviews and instructional articles have become quite a pain for me to read, as the very next document you pick up or surf into, negates that which you read last week -- sometimes from the same publisher! Not that they are arguing with themselves, or giving a chance for rebuttal -- but, the industry has changed THAT QUICKLY.

Much of this problem, in my opinion, has to do with the fact that standards either have not been set, or are still in the process, or are in the process but only apply to certain factions, while other sects are busy ignoring them. One of the reasons, I believe, that we've seen the huge leaps in offerings on the Internet, for instance, is because the World Wide Web Consortium has managed to painfully derive some standards that could be agreed upon by the very persons who are behind the technology. Once the "instigators" could agree, then the rest of us could find a niche in an area that was more stable.

When I get overwhelmed with all of this, my computer-years "go bye-bye" and I resort to looking at it from a heavily-opinionated artist's point of view. I have always maintained that this new technology is more ART than it is SCIENCE. The proof of that, in my estimation, is the fact that it IS quickly and ever-changing. The new media boils down to CREATIVE ACTS, with each person seeing the details in different ways. That is why we have an uncountable number of software, many of which do the same things, but in different ways. That's also why one user will prefer ABC Software, and the next user hates it, but loves XYZ Ware. None of this will fit everyone, no matter what Microsoft thinks.

As we watch a classroom of children who are creating art from a common theme (adults, too, but many times the glaring differences are not there, as adults are more refined in manners of replicating an effort, as well as more in tune with 'pleasing the teacher') it is very obvious that in a room of 30 kids, there will be 30 totally inspired and different interpretations of the theme. So it is, I believe, with the software developers, the website designers, the makers of multimedia. As with the 30 pieces of art, so it is with the thousands of media offerings: it is hugely exciting and fun.

It is impossible to touch, use, experience it all.

I used to hear my dad say that he wouldn't have enough time to finish all he wanted to do, even if he had 5 lifetimes in which to do things. This caused me great consternation as a kid. But, it sure started to make sense as I grew older. Today, we live in a new element of time, it almost seems. The Internet and all-things-digital have put us into some kind of a time-warp that would intimidate even Captain Picard!

The solution, as I see it, is EXACTLY what the good Captain said. It is exactly our duty to "Make it so." It is up to each of us to find a level of comfort, while still embracing the challenge of the extra time and work needed, in order to keep up with the E-Joneses. Pick a niche, and come to know it very, very well. Be open to every new learning experience. Learn to sleep less? It's calling everyone to become more organized and more efficient with our time. It boils down to the commitment you have to learning this, and then teaching this or passing it along in some way.

It's ironic that such a global tool is such a personal adventure. If each person maintains a level of comfort with the daily growth that is expected; if we can keep at bay those feelings of being overwhelmed; if we can each stretch the limit just a bit -- then we will be able to keep up with the drastic changes. WE can do it, because this media's greatest lesson is collaboration. Many of us are not used to that paradigm shift yet, and I believe that is what is causing all this dismay at "information overload." We competitively are still trying to "win the race," and get it all done.

The trick is -- it's not up to ME to "make it so." It is up US to "make it so." That's how I've started to face each day.

• Leanne C. Boyd (at home)
• (at school)
• (BoydZoo Studio • Instructional Designs)