Campaign 2008

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readme: Policy made plain.

Great minds think alike.

By Michael Kinsley
Posted Saturday, Oct. 12, 1996, at 3:30 AM ET

(525 words; posted Friday, Oct. 11)

Great Minds Think Alike, Part One
"The name? It means nothing, or practically nothing. We chose it as an empty vessel into which we can pour meaning."
--"Readme: Welcome to SLATE," SLATEmagazine, June 24, 1996.

"What we were looking for was an empty vessel, a word that really had no meaning that we could then fill with meaning."
--Nancy Friedman, marketing director of "Slates," a new line of dress pants from Levi Strauss. Quoted in the New York Times , Oct. 9, 1996.

We are happy to welcome Levi Strauss into our increasingly crowded vessel, but wish to make clear that there is no connection between Slates, the pants, and SLATE, the interactive magazine. When we told Bill Gates that Levi Strauss was slapping our name on a line of trousers, his reaction was eloquent. "Have them killed," he said. "No, wait, my Dockers are getting a bit tight--order me a few pairs." We hope "Slate" comes to mean high-quality material in both textiles and, er, text. Tell you what, guys: We'll cover the head, you cover the lower body. (Or will that get us in trouble with the Justice Department?)

Great Minds Think Alike, Part Two
Bizarrely, two of our regular columnists have chosen to write riffs on the same, far-from-obvious conceit. Steven Landsburg, economics professor at the University of Rochester, and Nathan Myhrvold, vice president of Microsoft, have never met or spoken or (as far as we know) even e-mailed each other. Yet, both turned in columns this week arguing, tongues slightly in cheek, in favor of inefficiency in government. There's a saying in the software industry: "It's not a bug, it's a feature." By the same logic, in the world of magazines, multiple articles that seem obsessively or pointlessly repetitive when spread out over weeks or months can become a "series"--or even a "special issue"--when published in close proximity. Therefore, we run Landsburg this week, Myhrvold next. Consider it an "in-depth special insight team investigative series" on the case for inefficiency in government.

A Little Light Reading
Clive Crook, deputy editor of the Economist, wrote an essay for SLATE last week comparing Bill Clinton to British Labor Party leader (and likely next prime minister) Tony Blair. That essay is now available in "The Compost." We were hoping to provide a link to Clive's excellent survey of recent British political and economic history, published in the Economist, but it wasn't posted at the time. It is now, so take a look.

Talk Back to SLATE, Continued
Thanks to all those who responded to our request for participants in SLATE focus groups, and special thanks and apologies to the many volunteers we couldn't accommodate. We're excited and flattered by the eagerness of so many SLATEreaders to tell us what they think. (We're flattered, at least, until we hear what they think.) There are many more opportunities to talk back to SLATE. We'll be conducting an online reader survey sometime soon. Meanwhile, e-mail us at letters@slate.com (technical issues to help@slate.com) and/or join "The Fray"! More than 10,000 SLATE-niks have registered for SLATE's discussion-group feature so far. It's fun; it's free (for now); and the more the merrier.