In an age in which online media is a larger source of information, it was brilliant to see your "2012 User's Guide" that was informative and presented in an engaging format [Jan. 9]. When news can be accessed freely from a variety of outlets, you showed that the printed word is still well and truly alive.
Jack Hatton, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND
In "Fearing Well," Jeff Wise tells us what we should — and shouldn't — worry about in 2012 [Jan. 9]. But he underestimates the potential dangers of cell-phone use by relying on "numerous studies [that] have found no convincing evidence of health risks." Sometimes we need to be more fearful of the long-term danger of low-level exposure (and more skeptical when large corporations are putting out information that is helpful to their bottom line). In the case of cell phones' non-ionizing radiation and its possible effects — particularly on our children's developing brains and bodies — this fear could be crucial.
Melissa Levine, IRVINE, CALIF., U.S.
Re "Fearing Well": Thank you for listing librarians as "trusted authorities" in your matrix of things in 2012 that we don't fear and that aren't considered dangerous. If only we could convince students.
David Ettinger, International Affairs and Political Science Librarian, George Washington University, WASHINGTON
The news quiz was well thought out and funny [10 Questions, Jan. 9]. I was in fits reading No. 8, which asked who the new head of state in China would be and all four choices listed were: Vice President Xi Jinping.
Shekhar Mehra, NEW DELHI
I was taken aback by Harry McCracken's glowing description of Netflix's near-term ambitions in "Control Freaks" [Jan. 9]. Is McCracken unaware that roughly a million customers left Netflix last year because they were rudely slapped with a 60% cost increase? The loyal customers can now stream thousands of mostly B movies at will. But if they want to rent DVDs of more recent films, they have to fork up another eight bucks a month.
Bob Petrolino, RALEIGH, N.C., U.S.
Re "The Son Also Rises" [Jan. 9]: You are certainly correct that "what happens in Pyongyang does not stay in Pyongyang." Apart from South Korea, the death of Kim Jong Il has drawn great attention and concern in many countries. It will surely take some time for things to settle down in Pyongyang, and whether young Kim Jong Un will retain or reverse his father's policy remains to be seen. Those of us in Seoul can only hope that he takes a friendly approach and aims for a united Korea in the not-so-distant future.
Moon-tze Jinn, SEOUL
Person of the Year
How fitting that TIME named the Protester as its Person of the Year for 2011 [Dec. 26-Jan. 2]. Thanks to the ability of Americans to protest, women won the right to vote, African Americans overturned segregation laws, gay people came out of the closet of oppression, and wars from Vietnam to Iraq were held up to scrutiny. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "There is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet."
Ed Tant, ATHENS, GA., U.S.