I've been a fan of the American Sci-Fi author William Gibson for a long time. Some of you may have heard about him, because he coined the term "cyberspace". Along with Bruce Sterling (with whom he collaborated on the novel "The Difference Engine"), Gibson used to be the spearhead of a literary genre known as "Cyperpunk", because it mixes elements of 80's punk counter-culture with esoterical concepts of elevating one's mind to a higher form of being, obviously reminiscent of 60's psychedelic soul searching. The medium this time is not drugs, but technology. Gibson's anti-heroes roam a virtual plane called cyberspace, the sum total of all the world's stored information, where they are hackers in a sense, but also fed up with civilization and longing for catharsis, which at least some of them find by "uploading" their minds, leaving their body behind and becoming a part of "the matrix".

Since his first ground-breaking novel "Neuromancer", Gibson has explored many implications of the way we use and perceive technology and it is his theory, that all social change is technology-driven. He -like myself and many others- is fascinated by the Japanese way of adopting and assimilating new technology and his books show it, often featuring Japanese characters, lingo and locations.

Numerous movies, like "Matrix" asf. owe a lot to William Gibson's ideas although he's rarely credited for them.

Although his later novels lack the innovative power of his earlier works, they still offer cool ideas for people who like to be compelled to think.

I could say a lot more about Gibson and my view of his work but instead I recommend:

This fantastic website, run by a German gentleman, currently living in Japan, has collected all sorts of information about William Gibson that one can think of (and wish for). Please visit

www.antonraubenweiss.com

and see for yourself.