I thought the readings this week were extremely interesting. I'll start from the Information Ecology reading and go from there. =]
Information Ecology describes how networks need to be made up of different parts. Each part works together to make a whole. This reminded me of a company. There could be a few people, hundreds of people, or even thousands of people going to work in a building (or multiple in some cases). Each of these people going to work has a different job to do. If they work hard and achieve their individual goals, then the company will thrive. The company needs each department to work together so that it can continue to be a success.
The next reading, A Short History of the Internet, was well written, but it made me laugh. It was published in 1993 and the article kept talking about what the Internet will be or what the Internet can do, but 18 years later and....the Internet HAS achieved these things. Not only has it achieved the networks the article was talking about but it has achieved so much more. The article did not even mention anything along the lines of Skype. I find Skype fascinating.
The last reading, Four Puzzles from cyberspace, was different. I did not know how the author was going to sum each story up, but he did it nicely and made his points about regulation.
Jake's Story about the guy who wrote rape and murder stories online intrigued me. I understand that it can be creepy, but he had a large group following his stories. Clearly he was doing something right if people were reading them. I do not support rape, murder, or anything along those lines, but it is creative freedom. As long as he is not hurting anyone in real life he has every right to go and kill whoever he wants in cyberspace.
The online gaming story also brought up issues of cyberspace gaming and real life. It made me think of Grand Theft Auto. I personally find the game extremely fun. Your character will run around, steal cars, blow up the road, shoot people, and just go crazy. Yes, I said I find this fun, but I would NEVER walk up my street, shoot a guy in a car, steal it, and drive away. There is a difference between cyberspace and reality. People need to acknowledge that difference.
The worm story was also interesting. It brought up issues of the government looking through your computer for information specific to them. They can't see anything else, just the information, and if you're innocent then you have nothing to worry about. Now I'm sure that many people feel violated by this, but I personally could care less. I have nothing to hide so if the government wants to look for terrorist documents or whatever else they're looking for on my computer, feel free. It is for the greater good and if it helps me stay safe then I completely support it. The one issue with this is that the government can not overstep their boundaries. Let's say they start looking at pictures or something along those lines. The government should not be looking at pictures of me on the beach and that I do not support.
Hey Kathleen...nice post. I also found the reading 'A Short History of the Internet' extremely amusing, but at the same time intriguing. It's always interesting to know what people had imagined the internet to be in 20 years....I think it has exceeded their expectations by far. This then gets me thinking about what the next 20 years will bring and how the articles that are relevant to us right now will be laughed at in years to come. But then i guess that is the nature of technology :)
ReplyDeleteHey there,
ReplyDeleteso I have to agree with you, people need to acknowledge that there is a difference between cyberspace and reality. But i believe that both the players and outside viewers of games can interpret games in totally different ways. There is alot to say in the issues of violent content in games, but not much to support the claims that playing these games will adversely affect individuals.
That is, unless you admit to really wanting to go blow some things up? maybe were all just abit too involved with our cyber worlds...
It's fascinating how the internet appeared in the eyes of visionaries like Bruce Sterling 20 years ago, and how it is lived by contemporary 18-25 year-olds. To me it shows that you can only extrapolate so much from current developments and predicting technological development over long term is futile.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI thought you made a really good and clear summary of the Four Puzzles from cyberspace reading. I agree that there is a difference between reality and online life, however don't you think that sometimes people blur the lines between the two? Despite the fact that there is a difference between life online and off line, I think that often people think that because online life isn't real it means that there are no consequences for their actions in real life. Often people go to far and in fact they actually do things online that have really life consequences. For example: http://www.crn.com/blogs-op-ed/networking/207800673/cyber-bullying-mom-charged-in-myspace-suicide-case.htm
I always laugh at when people bring up the violent video games argument trying to ban it. People understand what is happening on a screen with a controller is very different to real life. it is not the games fault if they dont know the difference
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed these readings too. Like everyone, i found Sterling's reading on the history of the internet amusing. My favourite line: "Three million, possibly four million people use this gigantic mother-of-all-computer-networks". Wow! 4 million! I love that 4 million was a huge number of users back then. There are over 2 billion users today. It would be interesting to write down what you think the internet will be capable of in the future and put it away for the same amount of time. At least Sterling's predictions were way more spot on than Time Cop's. If you're unfamiliar with this movie, Jean Claude Van Damme travells into the future to the year 2004. It's hilarious. Watch it
ReplyDeleteI completely agree when you said "There is a difference between cyberspace and reality. People need to acknowledge that difference." We all enjoy games, but we all know that these are only games and that we cannot simply run out and shoot around, or steal cars or randomly beat people. I suppose it's more a question of educating the audience, and a matter of knowing right from wrong and not letting games blur those lines.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary of the Four Puzzles from cyberspace reading Kathleen!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else that there is a difference between reality and online life, however I'm with Sarah in thinking that sometimes people blur the lines between the two. I don't feel comfortable commenting on the online gaming side of things as I am not a gamer and feel I have a biased personal belief against them. I do feel, however, that the line can sometimes be blurred when it comes to cyber bullying. The anonymity of the internet allows people to treat others in a way that they wouldn't necessarily in a face-to-face situation. The ways in which people conduct themselves online do impact other people, the same as in real life. I think that this is sometimes forgotten and its something that internet users need to be aware of.