On the Loss of a Light in Cyberspace

Daniel Akst received more than 100 e-mail messages from readers in response to last week’s Postcard From Cyberspace, in which Akst said he was giving up the column in order to concentrate on writing novels. A new Postcard columnist will debut soon.

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I was greatly saddened to read that I will no longer be able to enjoy the lucid and insightful information you have so aptly provided for the past many months.

Your column has been one that I eagerly looked forward to every Monday. Selfishly, I don’t want it to go away. But I understand and respect that you are responding to the “higher calling” of a personal challenge. You are leaving a vacuum which, as with all vacuums, will be filled but not likely with the grace and style which you have brought to reporting and commenting on the happenings of this new technological wonderment.

A.A. CANINO

Encino

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Oh, well! No reason to jump out of bed and rush out to the front lawn and grab my paper every Monday morning! Maybe I’ll get a few extra minutes of sleep. You’re not making the right decision--but the only decision.

People still read novels (although I’m not sure agents do any more. . . .).

Good luck.

CHUCK NYREN

Los Angeles

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No coffee needed here in West Hollywood this morning as my eyes bugged out at your announcement of leaving the weekly column business. Congratulations and best wishes--but geez, I’m gonna miss your columns!

Over the past two years or so I have learned an extraordinary amount about the world of the Web. Your columns have been clipped (and then downloaded!) and copied and sent on to dozens of friends and family members who live in places which weren’t smart enough to carry your column.

Thanks for your humor, your insight and your humanity in bringing a weekly Postcard From Cyberspace.

CRAIG B. COOGAN

West Hollywood

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Please count me among those who were sorry to read this morning that you are shutting down Postcards to pursue other things. I’m one of those folks who never writes anyone, especially strangers.

But I’ve enjoyed not only the content of Postcards, but also your humor and skills with the language. Hope to see your name in Walden’s window (the inert kind) someday.

DON BIRMINGHAM

Thousand Oaks

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Many thanks for two years of very informative columns. I got my fax/modem at about the time you started writing your weekly Postcards. They have been a source of my information and have helped me, and many other “newbies,” a great deal.

TOM MAGNUSON

Grand Terrace

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Sorry to read in the L.A. Times that you will no longer will be writing Postcard From Cyberspace. I enjoyed your articles and clipped and saved many of them. Some of your early articles prompted me to buy a modem for my PC and sign up for Internet access.

DON PATITUCCI

Rosemead

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What a shame to read your final Postcard today. You will be sorely missed. It’s so rare to find that rare intersection between taste and hacker knowledge.

J. BROCKMAN

Santa Monica