"We have the technology . . ." I've been talking to some web site designers recently about how they see their future now that the web and multimedia hype explosion of the early nineties has subsided (along with the production of third-rate CD-ROMs). Those I talked to had their hopes pinned on Web-TV and the income it would provide, a 'progression' I know many 'netizens' find alarming, as corporate capital gushes into cyberspace providing a simulcra of that which has come before (passive, push entertainment). Personally I'm not a proponent of Web-TV as what drew me to the net in the first place was not passive entertainment (I have more than enough access to that as it is!) but just the simple fact of the ease of immediate connectivity to so many others globally. However there can be no doubt that as money moves into the net things are changing. This was one of the areas I hoped frAme might reflect upon, by providing an area to showcase work and present critical thought around the whole subject of how culture and technology are interweaving at the end of this century. Whatever the corporations would like to make of the web, it was a pleasure to find so much creativity already alive online which instead of aiming to dazzle with high tech wizardry, utilised the simplicity of good ideas well presented. Mark Amerikaís OK Texts is a perfect example of a direct communication working succinctly within the medium for which it is aimed. In a similar way the work of da Rimini, Lichty, Petterd and Caney all demonstrate how mood, emotion and critical thought can all be portrayed within the confines of the VDU and the constraints of the current technological envelope. Alive as creativity online may be, Lovink and Owens both make clear that the culture of cyberspace is not strictly in the hands of the individuals who work on its construction but that economic forces (which always find a way into any new areas ripe for potential profit) are making their mark, for where there is profit there is control. Moving away from the themes mentioned above, both Matthew Fuller and Jamie Brassett offer some thoughts on connectionism, although I must add, each in their own way. Jonathan Fox explores how the computer has been used in Critical Theory's exploration of the notion of the subject and Mark Dery offers light relief in the form of some millennial anxiety. Although I realise the topics covered in this journal are widespread the one thing that struck me after seeing all the submissions was that it is not the technology, but the imagination that was really important here. Perhaps the web designers of the future might take note of this before rushing to embrace, in Web-TV, a medium which albeit technologically sophisticated may fall short in what it offers. Simon Mills (1998) Submissions are welcomed for the second issue of frAme. Please direct all submissions or queries to Simon Mills at samills@innotts.co.uk.