Mac Musings

Class Act, Mac Web

Daniel Knight - 2001.09.12

At about 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, a hijacked airliner smashed into one tower of the World Trade Center. Within two hours both towers had been hit and become piles of rubble. A third airplane caused massive amounts of damage to the Pentagon, and a fourth hijacked plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

I first learned of this when visiting The Mac Observer at about 9:45 a.m. Kudos to Bryan Chaffin for using TMO's forums to share events as they unfolded - and for having the sense to ignore Mac news for the balance of the day. As a nation, we need to focus on this terrorist attack, not worry about MHz myths and platform wars.

Kudos also to Accelerate Your Mac, Applelinks, Bite.org, DealMac, MacCentral, The MacMind, MacSlash, MrBarrett.com, Working Mac, and other sites that suspended Mac coverage for the day. Class act, guys and gals.

Also thanks for Slashdot for giving lots of computer users the opportunity to think through the issues and share their thoughts. Applelust did a nice job covering the attack on their home page.

Of course, it's going to take a lot more than an afternoon or a day to process the attack. More people died in the airliners alone than in the Oklahoma City bombing, airport security was unable to prevent the hijackers from boarding these planes, and everyone in the States feels a bit less secure today.

This is a pivotal moment in American history. Our response to this event will shape the nation and the world for generations to come.