[Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?

Lovaas,Steven Steven.Lovaas at ColoState.EDU
Tue Jun 5 12:29:57 PDT 2012


I suppose, just to be complete, we ought to unpack the only remaining word in the lede: "the"... in this case, the definite article implying there's only one. Even early on, there was a variety of interconnected networks for different purposes, and there's always been a set of "off-line" networks that one might more broadly consider when thinking about "the" internet (with or without the capital i).

But I'm surprised nobody has invoked Ellul yet in this thread... is it even appropriate to talk about humans inventing the internet? Should we not consider the ways in which technology has its own imperative? In a sense, the internet evolved itself and spawned nerds and geeks as a necessary support organ :)

/whimsy off

Having heard Grace Hopper speak when I was an undergrad, I celebrate her as co-subject in this wonderful tech/human evolution!

Thanks to all for an interesting and thoughtful thread to read today...

Steve


========================
Steven Lovaas
IT Security Manager (and PhD student)
Colorado State University
Steven.Lovaas at ColoState.edu
970-297-3707
========================




-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Barbara Clark
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 1:12 PM
To: Conley, Tara
Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?

Hi there,

You may find the work of Susan Herring to be of some use to you. She's a linguist who has done pioneering research on gender and CMC (as well as other computer- and textually-related linguistic research). A lot of her work is available free to access from her website which is always appreciated.

Best,
Barb

--
Barbara Clark, PhD student
School of Languages, Linguistics and Film Queen Mary, University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom

b.l.clark at qmul.ac.uk
http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/blclark/QMUL/Welcome.html



On 5 Jun 2012, at 18:28, Conley, Tara wrote:

> Hi list members,
> 
> In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial 
> NYTimes piece this weekend, here it 
> is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>.
> The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You 
> may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni 
> Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.htm
> l>
> .
> 
> I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical 
> perspective for Ms.
> Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-peop
> le-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/>
> today.
> 
> Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of 
> gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
> 
> Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet 
> history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 
> 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
> 
> Tara
> 
> --
> Tara L. Conley
> Teachers College Columbia University
> Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education 
> tlc2132 at tc.columbia.edu
> 
> *"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - 
> Trinh T. Minh-ha* _______________________________________________
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