[Air-l] Internet as medium with different sub-media or channels?

[Bob Rehak]

Quoting Sarah Stein <sstein at unity.ncsu.edu>:

> Just to add another element to this interesting discussion
> thread--Langdon Winner's "Do Artifacts have Politics?" talks about
> how the pure "function" model of technology supports the argument
> that hardware/infrastructure is "just a tool --or 'just a delivery
> system'--and it is only in the uses to which it's put--or
> content/messages that are created--that we can discern social or
> political impact." His discussion of technological systems that
> embody in their design power and authority that favor certain
> interests and modes of social order is enlightening.

>> elw at stderr.org wrote:
>>>  there are certainly a lot of layers to this.
>>>
>>>  some packets [s/packets/communicative acts] are, by their very existence,
>>>  messages.  (e.g., ping packets or ICMP packets or syn/ack packets...)
>>
>> Quite literally! The computer scientists conceive the whole internet as
>> a layered entity (the physical layer, data link layer, network layer,
>> transportation layer, etc.). Is it possible that we in internet research
>> need to likewise formulate a layered conception of "medium?"
>>
>> In a sense, there are many who only see the hardware, not
>> differentiating between, for example, web surfing or IMing -- it's all
>> just "stuff on the computer." For others, finer distinctions become
>> important. Etc. Perhaps our difficulty in determining where the "medium"
>> exists is our confusion over which layer of the thing on which we ought
>> to focus???


Sorry to embed all the above quotations, but I keep rejoining the 
conversation midstream. I'm enjoying the dialogue as well, and wanted 
to switch gears a bit from my earlier, non- or anti-technical 
contributions.

This question is based on my (admittedly limited) understanding of 
network protocols, which I delved into for a recent project on 
first-person shooters and graphic engines. Apologies in advance for any 
mishandling of the concepts involved -- I come humbly seeking 
clarification.

My understanding is that in the world of data transmission protocols 
there is such a thing as TCP, which is great for reliably shipping data 
from one place to another, confirming their receipt, verifying 
integrity & completeness of message, etc. The problem is that TCP' 
reliability comes at the cost of speed, so it makes an ungainly 
platform for the fast-paced exchanges of realtime networked computer 
gaming (e.g. deathmatch or MMO activity). Basically, with TCP you get 
lag, which interrupts the game and violates the various layers of 
immersion and disbelief (not the mention players' ability to target or 
dodge) necessary to the experience.

Hence the UDP, or User Datagram Protocol, which sends quanta of 
information more quickly but without the confirming codes and waiting 
for old packets that slow down TCP. Most networked games, as I 
understand it, make use of UDP.

My question, then, is this: if packet transmission methods are 
specialized according to different end needs, then doesn't this argue 
for the presence of the internet as a medium, in the sense that its 
protocols are made to serve specific expressive functions? If all 
packets are not created equal, then we can't reduce the model to "the 
packet doesn't care what data it carries."

To return to the analogy of the printing press, perhaps the press *is* 
just a tool for replicating content -- but if its design includes the 
ability to handle different fonts, colors of ink, sizes and types of 
paper, etc., then the "hardware" is materially implicated in the 
medium's expressive activity.

Best,
Bob

P.S. Hi Sarah Stein! I think our paths have crossed at more than one 
conference.

---------------------------------------

Bob Rehak

Department of Communication and Culture
Mottier Hall, 1790 East Tenth St.
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN  47405-9700

Associate Editor, North America
Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal
will be published by Sage starting 2006.
Subscribe now for a free online subscription!

www.sagepub.co.uk/animation