What you need to know
As I stated above, we don't know how this will shake down. We're exploring a technology that will either bring important communications resources to people who need it -- or badly damage our emergency services infrastructure. This is stuff you need to know about.

Bill South sent me a very gratifying email that said, "Thanks again for the opportunity for a different perspective to be heard on the BPL issue. Yours is the first publication willing to look at, and print, both sides. Fair reporting at its best."

As Bill said, we're presenting a fair view of BPL. We're not trying to tell you how to think about this issue. Frankly, we're not even sure. But the reason we're devoting so much editorial space to this issue is that it's pretty important. It's something you need to know -- and you need to hear all sides of the debate.

When making the decision to devote this much editorial space, we looked around for other impartial coverage and, to our amazement, found none. We found some very pro-BPL discussions and some very anti-BPL discussions. But nowhere did we find a detailed discussion of both sides of the issue. So, that's what we've set out to provide.

After all, when friends, bosses, politicians, and even military leaders need technical advice, they often turn to Computing Unplugged and our readers. By the time we're done covering this topic, you'll have the information you need to give well considered opinions, advice, and answers.

Don't worry though -- we've got great coverage on other topics planned. We've got an in-depth review of the Treo 700p coming up, a detailed discussion about a digital "grab kit" for hurricane preparedness, some very cool tools for tweaking out your goodies, and far more.

Stay tuned, learn, and talk about this stuff. You're likely to know more about it than anyone else in your communities -- and there may come a time when that knowledge will be critically important.

Heather Wardell received her first Palm handheld in 1997 (from a boss who couldn't get the hang of Graffiti) and has never looked back. She worked in banking as a systems analyst for four years, and then moved into elementary education, teaching computers at a private elementary school for four years. Heather is now a full-time writer with two main specialties: articles that explain how a particular technology works, and short stories that usually involve technology run amok. You can reach her on the Web at http://www.heatherwardell.com.