Murray Suid is a writer of educational books and material living in Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley. He has also written books for kids, multimedia scripts and screenplays. How did using the internet change his professional life? He wrote in September 1998: "The internet has become my major research tool, largely - but not entirely - replacing the traditional library and even replacing person-to-person research. Now, instead of phoning people or interviewing them face to face, I do it via email. Because of speed, it has also enabled me to collaborate with people at a distance, particularly on screenplays. (I've worked with two producers in Germany.) Also, digital correspondence is so easy to store and organize, I find that I have easy access to information exchanged this way. Thus, emailing facilitates keeping track of ideas and materials. The internet has increased my correspondence dramatically. Like most people, I find that email works better than snail mail. My geographic range of correspondents has also increased - extending mainly to Europe. In the old days, I hardly ever did transatlantic penpalling. I also find that emailing is so easy, I am able to find more time to assist other writers with their work - a kind of a virtual writing group. This isn't merely altruistic. I gain a lot when I give feedback. But before the internet, doing so was more of an effort." Murray was among the first authors to add a website to his books - an opportunity that many would soon adopt: "If a book can be web-extended (living partly in cyberspace), then an author can easily update and correct it, whereas otherwise the author would have to wait a long time for the next edition, if indeed a next edition ever came out. (...) I do not know if I will publish books on the web - as opposed to publishing paper books. Probably that will happen when books become multimedia. (I currently am helping develop multimedia learning materials, and it is a form of teaching that I like a lot - blending text, movies, audio, graphics, and - when possible - interactivity)." He added in August 1999: "In addition to 'web-extending' books, we are now web-extending our multimedia (CD-ROM) products - to update and enrich them." In October 2000, "our company - EDVantage Software - has become an internet company instead of a multimedia (CD-ROM) company. We deliver educational material online to students and teachers." = The internet as a novel "character" Alain Bron lives in Paris, France. He is a consultant in information systems and a writer. The internet is one of the "characters" of his second novel, "Sanguine sur toile" (Sanguine on the web), available in print from Editions du Choucas in 1999, and in PDF format from Editions 00h00 in 2000.