To Our Readers

By Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor

A week ago, I went fishing with friends in the marshes of Plaquemines Parish near my old hometown of New Orleans. It was the opening of duck-hunting season, and folks were out with their kids for what has become a ritual among many baby-boom parents. I was particularly interested because assistant managing editor Dan Goodgame, who grew up hunting nearby in southern Mississippi, had suggested we do a story on an issue many parents now face: Is hunting a good thing to teach our kids? "People who hunt get something valuable out of it that doesn't translate well to people who don't hunt," says Goodgame. "So it makes an interesting social issue."

I think it's part of TIME's mandate to explore issues that are both practical concerns and chewy ethical dilemmas, and this one seemed right on target. The hunters I know are among the most ardent environmentalists, yet it sometimes feels jarring to watch them trying to instill a love of nature in their kids while also teaching them to shoot animals. My eight-year-old daughter is a fanatic nature lover who also likes to fish, and someday she may want to learn to hunt. Our Lance Morrow, who is as comfortable with nature as with ethical dilemmas, decided to take on the topic.

Speaking of parental dilemmas, those of us who have watched kids go through dreamy or hyperkinetic phases often wonder where the line is between endearing quirks and attention-deficit disorders. Last week's big conference on Ritalin provided new information and a chance to update our groundbreaking 1994 cover, which was written by Claudia Wallis, now the editor of TIME FOR KIDS. This week's cover was written by Nancy Gibbs, mother of two, who took a break from her terrific writing on the Washington scandals to tackle something that hits closer to home. Christine Gorman, who writes a popular health column in the Personal Time section, provided a companion piece on the latest medical findings.

Another passion around here, of course, is the digital revolution. Recently we sent our technology writer Michael Krantz to be our new San Francisco bureau chief. This week he looks at how computers have transformed movie animation. "The workstations that produce these films are more powerful than those that sent men to the moon," he says.

For the other big technology story, the Microsoft trial, we've turned to someone who loves computers and also knows something about law. Staff writer Adam Cohen, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has practiced in New York and Alabama. This week he takes on the type of question we like to ask: What if the dog actually catches the car? In this instance the question is what might actually happen to Microsoft if the government wins. "In antitrust law, finding companies guilty is easy," says Cohen. "The tough part is coming up with a remedy that forces hard-nosed competitors like Microsoft to change their ways."

Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor