[Air-l] is Internet a '"source" or a "medium"? - ignorant'squestion (fwd)

[Alexis Turner]

I think Rich gave you the best answer so far.

"Medium" is generally used to describe any *vehicle or method* of 
communication, so, for instance, television, newspapers, visual arts, and film 
are all considered media because they offer a way for people to communicate. 
The Internet also offers a way for people to communicate, so it is also a 
medium.

A "source" is the location from which something originates, like the source of a 
river might be a glacier.  A source of coffee might be a plantation.  A source 
of information might be a book.  A source of information might also be the 
Internet.

So, the Internet is both a source (of information) and a medium (of 
communication).  They are not technically interchangable terms, but they are 
also hard to take apart from each other.  For instance, how do you communicate 
with someone without having information to convey?  And what use is *having* 
information if you do not have a way to pass it along (communicate it) to 
someone?  That is why I think people are often clumsy about the way they use 
the terms - they don't describe the same thing, but they do describe closely 
related concepts, and you cannot have one without the other.
-Alexis



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 18:54:29 +0200
From: richard.ling at telenor.com
Reply-To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-l] is Internet a '"source" or a "medium"? - ignorant'squestion

I think that the answer is "yes." It is both.

On the one hand it is a medium when, for example, people are interacting
via email.  It is the medium through which they communicate.  When you a
looking something up, then it is a source.

Rich Ling