In Praise of Breakthrough Technologies

The introductory article of ''The Internet Age'' (Cover Story, Oct. 4) prompts me to point out some missing bytes of information. In October, 1969, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles indeed tested the first host-to-host computer transmission. The unnamed colleagues at the other end of the phone line in Menlo Park, Calif., were at Stanford Research Institute, now known as SRI International. And while the SRI system crashed when the first word ''login'' was automatically completed by the receiving host, SRI immediately realized the problem, and a second attempt was successful. Both the UCLA and SRI systems had been crashing during the debugging period that preceded the successful login; what is notable, of course, is not the crash, but the success.

The ''bankrollers at the Pentagon'' were at the Advanced Research Projects Agency; hence the name ARPANET was coined for the network that grew from that first connection. ARPA's goal was not to design a network that could survive a nuclear attack but to leverage the military's investment in computers for interactive computing. (Coincidentally, a completely separate investigation at the Rand Corp. was exploring similar techniques for survivability reasons.) Led by Doug Engelbart, the team's innovations included hypermedia, groupware, teleconferencing, and the computer mouse.

Engelbart's vision was, and still is, extraordinary. In 1970, he predicted that ''there will emerge a new marketplace, representing fantastic wealth in commodities of knowledge, service, information, processing, storage, etc.'' Today, Engelbart continues to pursue the co-evolution of tool systems and human systems to position individuals, organizations, and society to solve urgent and more complex problems.

Alice Galloway
Senior Director
Corporate Communications
SRI International
Menlo Park, Calif.

You stated that the ''telephone was perhaps the greatest breakthrough in information technology, ever.'' This is not the case. Many years before the telephone, the telegraph was born: Up till that time, information could go only as fast as someone could carry it by hand. At that moment, telegraphic information could be transported at the speed of light and, in theory, to anywhere in the world where a wire or cable was strung. The telephone was just a modification of this electrical impulse through wire.

You also stated that without the telephone, large-scale, centrally managed corporations such as General Motors Corp. would be impossible. Until the time of microwave transmission (and later satellites), the long-distance phone was terribly expensive, and labor-intensive as well. I would guess these businesses used the telegraph as a primary information user as it was much cheaper and almost as fast. I can remember getting and sending telegrams in my business as late as the 1960s.

George B. Freeland
Orinda, Calif.

Baseball: How Rich Teams Should Subsidize Poor Ones

I am a loyal Pittsburgh Pirates fan and I hate what the large-market teams are doing to baseball (''And then there were 28,'' Sports Business, Oct. 11). I have my own suggestions to make:

The Pirates and other small-market teams must notify the Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, and Yankees that they will not be allowed to televise their away games unless they pay 50% of their TV revenues from those games to the home team. If the mega-teams balk, the home teams should just forfeit the game and there will be no TV revenue for anybody. The superstation shows reruns of Lassie. This will work only if the home team is serious and the fans heartily support the effort.

Owners in the small markets could easily tap into local fans' resentment by organizing them into a potent third force, something now missing in the economic equation. The folks in Kansas City, Mo., are already primed for such an action. Fan involvement is important because even with the increased revenue from new stadiums, small-market teams will still be dramatically outspent by teams in major media cities.

Of course, Ted Turner and George Steinbrenner would threaten to sue. I say let them.

The rallying cry for us lowly peasants out here in the provinces should be ''You pay, you play. No pay, no way.''

Bob Keir
Avalon, Pa.

Get Ready for Conception Control

The implications of John Donohue and Steven Levitt's study go far beyond legalized abortion (''Does abortion lower the crime rate?'' Economic Viewpoint, Sept. 27). Unwanted children are particularly likely to be abused and neglected, to suffer miserably themselves, and later on to cause major problems for the rest of society. But legalized abortion is only one possible response.

More widespread and effective programs to help people control conception would be a more advantageous solution. However, all known methods for controlling conception work only when the individuals involved use them properly, and the most dangerous source of unwanted children is probably those people most lacking in personal responsibility.

The truly rational and moral solution is to make conception an event that requires a conscious, affirmative decision by the would-be parents. This solution is within reach technically but is sufficiently remote socially to make Robert J. Barro's phrases ''explosive politically'' and ''cause a major ruckus'' seem understated. Nevertheless, it is time to begin discussing social policies that would require deliberate action before conception can occur.

Richard P. Boyle
Senior research scientist
Institute for Social Research
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque

Online Recruiting: Too Much Is Riding on a Resume

I take issue with the assertion in ''The search for the young and gifted'' (Business Management, ''The Internet Age,'' Oct. 4) that Internet recruiting can be more interactive and personalized than the old paper-based way. It definitely has its place. With organizations such as Cisco Systems Inc. receiving 20,000 resumes a month, it is without a doubt a great time-saver.

However, as a graduating MBA, I have seen this tool taken well beyond its meaningful utility. Recently, more and more recruiting events have been reduced to little more than further Web sites to upload resumes to. It is becoming more convenient for local companies to use the events as a way to gather more fodder for their search engines (i.e, ''the following companies will be screening the database....'') than to send representatives to talk to us.

No longer able to use these events as opportunities to network, my chances of landing an interview have very little to do with my ability to make a professional impression and everything to do with how carefully I have crafted my resume to include as many of the right buzz words as possible. Interactive? Personalized? Far from it. The lesson: Just because something can be done online doesn't mean it should.

Keith Hoagland
Boulder, Colo.

The High Hurdles That Enzyme Researchers Face

In ''Evolution on fast-forward'' (Science & Technology, Sept. 27), you neglected to mention one crucial point about technological advance: Finding a one-in-a-billion enzyme variant requires a truly massive screening effort if it is to succeed. Up until now, finding new enzymes that display modest improvements has been a relatively easy task. This first wave of directed evolution technology created small libraries of mutant enzymes and then screened the members of those libraries one by one.

But to find the truly rare enzyme with radically different properties requires much larger libraries and much more efficient screening technology. This second wave of technology incorporates massively parallel, imaging-based techniques to sift rapidly through enormous libraries of mutants. This is the only way that large-scale improvements in biocatalysts are likely to be found.

Mary M. Yang
President and CEO
KAIROS Scientific Inc.
Santa Clara, Calif.

Retired Execs Form a Valuable Brain Trust

In reporting on Corporate America's age-related ''Brain drain'' (Cover Story, Sept. 20) Jennifer Reingold and Diane Brady captured a phenomenon that transcends function and industry: the loss of intellectual capital due to the departure of older executives from the workforce. However, these senior executives who are draining out of the corporation are forming a brain trust that businesses can tap into as needed. This brain trust is one of the fastest-growing segments in the workforce and is sometimes referred to as portable executives or contingency workers.

As baby boomers ''retire'' at an ever-younger age, the interim executives who form this brain trust will become an important factor in the quest for talent. Businesses that take advantage of older executives will enjoy a significant competitive advantage.

John A. Thompson
Stamford, Conn.

What RJR Is Doing to Keep Kids off Cigarettes

''Cutting back on tobacco ads'' (Economic Trends, Sept. 27) raised interesting points. As you are aware, the settlement with the states' attorneys general resolves many of the issues regarding underage smoking and cigarette marketing. In addition to the multibillion-dollar payments each state stands to receive, the settlement also placed the cigarette industry under severe restrictions on our marketing practices. These include bans on the use of billboard advertising, cartoon characters, brand-logo merchandise, and movie placements. The agreement also restricts promotional programs, sampling, lobbying, and event sponsorships.

The settlement will provide the states up to $246 billion over 25 years to design, implement, and enforce programs, including a $1.5 billion trust fund for use by states and public health groups to address underage smoking. Like many, we at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. would like to see a large portion of these funds directed toward reducing youth smoking rates. We remain hopeful that the states will elect to use an appropriate amount of these financial resources to develop tailored youth nonsmoking programs. Since 1991, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco has funded a youth nonsmoking program teaching kids how to resist peer pressure. This program addresses the fact that peer pressure, and not advertising, has been shown to be the primary factor in youth smoking.

At RJR Tobacco, we believe kids should not smoke. The risk of contracting lung cancer and heart disease is higher for those who smoke than for those who don't. RJR Tobacco actively supports efforts to prevent underage smoking. But a ban on all advertisements is both unwarranted and unnecessary.

Chris Garland
Director
Financial Communications
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Winston-Salem, N.C.

''Legal wrangling won't restore the rainforest'' (Environment, Oct. 11)

The table in ''Legal wrangling won't restore the rainforest'' (Environment, Oct. 11) should have said that Texaco Inc. completed remediation of drilling sites in Ecuador in 1998, not 1988.

''Jerry Barton vs. the United States'' (People, Oct. 11)

In a caption in ''Jerry Barton vs. the United States'' (People, Oct. 11), Robert M. Bass and Barry G. Hon were misidentified. Hon is the one in the red sweater.