In the January 1998 issue, celebrating the magazine’s five-year anniversary, Rossetto reiterates the magazine’s mission. He recalls his difficulty to pitch to investors the notion of a revolution brought about by information technology: “Digital Revolution? Most publishers were barely aware of the Industrial Revolution . . . What we were dreaming about was profound global transformation. We wanted to tell the story of the companies, the ideas, and especially the people making the Digital Revolution. Our heroes weren’t politicians and generals or priests and pundits, but those creating and using technology and networks in their professional and private lives—you” (Rossetto 1998).
From the heights of the dot-com euphoria, Rossetto outlines the magazine’s basic theory of contemporary society and the role of the magazine in it:
The Internet has mushroomed from an obscure academic mail system into the fastest growing medium, marketplace, and community in history. Genetic engineering is conquering disease, and new energy technologies promise to save our environment. The global financial network has created a force for change more powerful than the nation-state. And digital citizens are reinvigorating democratic discourse and reinventing civil society . . . We at Wired remain obsessed with authoritatively reporting on the new economy, new media, crucial technologies, and the digital nation. With providing context for a community overwhelmed by data. With not just telling the story of the modern, but visualizing the excitement of our times. (Rossetto 1998)
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Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age