Wired's pretenses are grimly laughable. The magazine glorifies a procession of vaunted rebels for struggling to persuade a corporate hierarchy to let them generate profits. In a vague echo of 1960s counterculture and New Age platitudes, these crusades are likened to the sacred quest for human freedom. The limits aren't hard to discern. Today, with more than 300 people on the Wired Ventures payroll, that's still the case.
Rebellion is laudable if it results in making more money for the company.
Of course, according to some mainstream news outlets, Wired itself qualifies as a corporate rebel. Despite all the hype, skilled technicians and shrewd investors don't merit acclaim as profound visionaries. Such a nation may not exist today. But at least we might hope for a country where the news media can tell the difference between a heroic rebel and a clever entrepreneur. These days, adults are often pleased to see children sitting at computers and learning with a few keystrokes.