A glass of water and somewhere to whinge

Almost 10 years ago the United States Office of Technology Assessment predicted that the time would come when authors of scientific papers would communicate directly with readers through electronic networks. Scientific journals would not be needed. Ten years ago few people had heard of the Internet and even fewer people were connected to it. Now many millions of people are connected, and the number increases rapidly everyday. The network is in place for the academy's prediction to come true.

Why would authors want to go directly to readers? Speed. To avoid interference from editors and other …