The future is now. (letters).

I enjoyed reading "Getting Personal" on pg. 4 of the October 2002 issue, and I appreciate the attention that you have given to what seems, in sonic of our eyes, a key issue for the future of the industry. I would like, however, to push harder on one aspect of your article.

Perhaps I have just been in this game a long time, hut I worry about the message that might result from your using research examples such as our own work, but mainly the Oxygen project at MIT, to illustrate your point. I fear that the perceived message might be that investing in this area is something that is just at the stage of academic research. I can already hear readers from industry saying, "OK, great! Let MIT do the research, and then let me know when it is ready for prime time. Then we will see how it might apply to us."

While down the road it is hoped that we will all be able to benefit from the insights gained from the excellent academic work of the Oxygen project, I feel very strongly that this is an area that is relevant to business today (yesterday, in fact). This belief is one of the core values of Alias|Wavefront, as shown by its eight-year investment in research in this area--significantly, research that is reflected in the product agenda. It is one of the areas of ...