[Air-l] Re: Internet History/Stages, was Internet in Everyday Life

Steve Jones sjones at uic.edu
Sat Nov 30 06:46:13 PST 2002


While it's important to be aware of, and take into consideration, the 
different forms of interface and experience of the internet, it's a 
tricky thing. I've argued that we often play fast and loose with the 
term "internet" when we actually mean something else more specific 
(web, email, p2p, etc.) and that we should be more precise therefore. 
But what level of precision is required ought to be a consideration 
of those engaged in the work and ought to be made clear in 
explication of the work. That is, if one is studying email use, a 
consideration should be whether or not the type of email software 
used is something that may bring with it sufficiently important 
difference to make a difference in the study, and that consideration 
ought to be reflected in some fashion in discussion of the study.

This is not specific to the internet, but is something that media 
studies generally have largely not taken up. Does it matter, for 
instance, whether one is viewing television in black and white or in 
color? On a big or a small screen? Or can we put together all 
"television viewing" into one large category? The same is the case in 
radio - the experience of radio varies greatly depending on, for 
instance, the type of loudspeaker, size of the radio, whether it may 
be in a car or not, etc. The answer to such questions, of course, is 
"it depends," and that is not an incorrect answer, I think. But it 
does point out on the one hand the need for specificity, and on the 
other hand the need to consider the level and degree to which 
specificity matters under particular circumstances.

Sj

At 9:55 PM -0800 11/27/02, Denise N. Rall wrote:
>Re: Maren Hartmann's comment - "And yes, there
>therefore seems to be both - a) a change somewhere in
>the late 1990s (but not necessairly related to the
>dot.com crash only)"
>
>I have to add that, unless we are simply discussing
>the Internet as accessed through the WWW then there
>are two distinct phases to the Internet based on the
>most logical component - how we see at the level of
>the user interface.
>
>To compare my days on the Internet as a unix-driven
>text-based device of "vi" "rn" and "ftp" is hardly the
>same internet that I access and view today through
>http and html.
>
>To me, (I've written one unpublished paper called
>"The Internet, the WWW and Cyberspace") these are not
>at all the same locations --  because how I experience
>it, subjectively, cognitively, aesthetically, it's not
>the same place at all.
>
>(I won't address cyberspace, a really ugly thing as
>Phil Agre points out in his recent book, "the limits
>of cyberspace"). To me the Internet is before the WWW
>and what we have now is, really a bastardization of
>the Internet as viewed through the WWW, or the Web.
>Both the Internet and the Web appeared WAY before the
>dot.com crash, if that's significant, fine, but I
>can't see it as an epistemological moment, more like
>an obvious result of advanced capitalism that worked
>its way through to the obvious conclusion.
>
>I'm sure someone here will put me straight on this ;-)
>
>Denise
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>=====
>"it's easier to use your mouse than your brain"
>Denise Rall, Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator &
>PhD student, School of Education, Southern Cross University,
>PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480 Australia
>Phone +61-2-6624-8627 Fax +61-2-6624-8637
>Office (Tuesdays) (02) 6620 3577 Mob 0438 233 344
>http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/edu/research/deniserall/index.html
>
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