In the very next paragraph, he states that email is most suitable for Japanese because email addressees can't interrupt the sender. The preface doesn't give a clear picture of the purpose of the book. I read the articles in the book with a growing sense of disbelief. It seemed to be an almost deliberate parody on the uselessness of academic research. Papers without premises, conclusions that don't conclude, and articles by people all of whom presumably have Internet access, but almost none of whom seemed to have used it to explore a wider world.
Computer communications is a new medium, and a new type of community.
Or perhaps it was the participants. Having spent seven years in one particular collaborative research project, I have some trouble with a statement like that. The range of topics covered is broad. The representations of specialty and culture by the various authors is likewise impressive and potentially useful. The papers, however, all seem to be the work of network neophytes, or, if they have some experience, it is with a single specialty system or topic.