The Internet has been the subject of bright future bordering on national hysteria. It is well to remember the work of the great American Thomas Hughes, founder of the field of the history of technology, whose most famous book is Technological Enthusiasm: The History of Technology in America. The title summarizes Hughes's vivid observations on the subject; as a culture we have always been wildly enthusiastic about new technology and view our national future as commingled with its development. Not only do Americans have a long and intense history of becoming enamored of the latest technology, we also have a propensity to believe that technology will solve most, if not all, social problems. The Internet is regarded as the latest technological panacea that will welcome in a new era of democracy and social justice while also improving our sex lives and making the children behave. The Internet is perceived as having vast possibility in large part because we can't understand the possibilities.