[Air-l] Re: first post (An Internet Without Space)

[ren at aldermangroup.com]

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 Eero Tarik wrote:
>But there does appear to be rebellion afoot if my own
>class is any indication. We want numbers to research, 
>we want to look at data - not read about someones fantasy
>/ guess in 1990. 

Eero,
I have to admit to not really knowing exactly what it is 
that "internet studies/research" does and does not look at, 
could you suggest the kind of data (quantative i assume from 
the ohter mails) that is not being looked at and should be?

ren
www.renreynolds.com
terranova.blogs.com



---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2004 19:53:49 +1030
>From: Eero Tarik <et at tarik.com.au>  
>Subject: [Air-l] Re: first post (An Internet Without Space)  
>To: air-l at aoir.org
>
>thanks for that Denise, very interesting.
>
>my gut feeling of all this, the pocket sized edition would 
be...
>
>... that internet studies/research needed a home and was 
able to slot 
>itself into the Arts/ Humanities area in some universities. 
With very 
>little real information to go on, because it was a field of 
study in its 
>infancy, the focus needed to be more philosophical, looking 
at concepts 
>rather than data.
>This is where we find many Internet Studies courses today. ( 
I realise 
>this is not universal)
>
>But there does appear to be rebellion afoot if my own class 
is any 
>indication. We want numbers to research, we want to look at 
data - not 
>read about someones fantasy/ guess in 1990. And I suspect 
that in order 
>to be relevant, and I do believe in the need to be relevant 
in 
>scholastic endeavour (even though others dont agree),
>this field of study will turn more towards real number 
crunching, rather 
>than worrying about "cyberspace" and "cyber communities".
>
>I think the new generation of students will force change as 
people who 
>are less tolerant of "cyberisms" graduate and influence 
academia. I also 
>think this new wave of Internet Studies scholars will drive 
the area 
>into a more commercially focussed future as they understand 
the 
>opportunities to be gained by excelling in the research of 
real data.
>
>However...the internet as we know it may not last more than 
another 
>decade, it will be replaced by something else, but I imagine 
that 
>whatever replaces it will still be a communications tool.
>
>So perhaps rather than concentrating on the "internet" part 
of this 
>equation, all the little bits that are floating around in 
the academic 
>world in related areas should pull themselves into one 
universal school 
>of communications study so that they not only allow for 
greater 
>diversity of study but also protect their own academic 
industry from the 
>inevitable technological change.
>
>There will always be some form of human communication 
technology, but 
>who knows what it will be from one decade to the next. A 
department 
>called The Center for Internet Studies might look a bit 
stupid when the 
>internet has died overnight and been replaced by a chip in 
our heads.
>
>To answer the question posed by the CFP I would see the 
solution being 
>the evolution of a monster Division/School of Personal 
Communication 
>Sciences where the rapidly evolving areas of personal 
communication like 
>the internet, mobile phones, pay TV etc can all be studied 
comfortably 
>at "home" without needing to find a temporary arrangement in 
some other 
>division and I would see this evolving in a more global 
sense through an 
>online Division rather than being an individual battle for 
status at 
>every single university. How this would be put together in 
flesh and 
>blood terms I leave to the geniuses of organisation.
>
>Thus, when the internet dies and is replaced by something 
else there is 
>still a home for those who want to study the new emerging 
technology.
>
>just my 10 cents worth.
>
>see ya
>
>Eero Tarik
>Adelaide
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