[Air-l] impressions?

[Frank Schaap]

Charles wrote:
> Their summary judgment: especially the more radical visions of the
> Internet
> and the Web (ala Barlow and many others) leading to a new Renaissance,
> etc. just seemed "so '90s"!

> For them, it appears that these technologies are utilitarian in the most
> boring of senses; precisely because they have grown up with them, they
> seem no more "revolutionary" than cars or telephones - even cellphones.
> Rather, these technologies are really, merely tools for them.  While as

I certainly know this sentiment from my students. The 1990s hyperbolic
statements about the internet strike them as odd, and they don't really know
what to do with them. But then again, most are not particularly interested in
the way the internet works technologically, socially or politically anyway, as
long as it allows them to MSN with their friends.

Video games are also not highly regarded by most, but they appear to agree
that statements about the future of gaming by game industry luminaries says
something about how technology and thinking about technology shapes our
future. Statements like:

"My ultimate online gaming experience would be a game that allows you to
experience virtual senses through the network, not with television as a
medium. You would not only be able to hear, see and feel but also even taste
and smell," by Yuji Naka, president and CEO of Sega's Sonic Team,

or, "I think that some kind of global virtual world, recreating a better clone
of our world, and in which anything possible in real life (and more...) would
be possible, would be absolutely fantastic," by Sylvian Constatin, project
manager at Ubisoft Entertainment.

I haven't quite figured it out, but I think that many students consider video
games, even if they don't think highly of them, as somehow pushing the
envelope of technology more than the internet.

In any case, I think these quotes from a 2002 games magazine are equally
usable in discussing the issues that need to be discussed, as would quotes
from a 1990s issue of Wired.


Frank.