Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Blog 7: Dial Tone

Chapter 5 of A History of the Internet and the Digital Future gives great background on the shaky origins of the modern day internet. The early origins of the internet were deeply rooted within phone companies because users at home had to be able to connect their machines to the phone lines. This specific fact struck a chord in my childhood memory bank, I can remember trying to call my cousins home phone and getting a dial tone because they were using the computer.

Another fascinating fact from chapter 5 was the 'Carterfone', a radio device that could be attached to a standard telephone set to extend the network beyond the fixed telephone lines. I believe that it's innovations like these have revolutionized the internet industry in an offhand manner. I'm interested to see what different kinds of innovations will surface during this golden digital age. Also, I wonder if the phone phreaks phenomenon from chapter 6 had any influence on modern day chat rooms and instant messaging.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Blog 4: Everywhere is home when you're connected

In today's digital era access to the internet is virtually a staple. Your home has internet, the coffee shop has internet, even when you're a mile high in the sky you can potentially have internet. With how important internet connection has become for everyday tasks among other scenarios, it seems as though internet connection has taken a tight grip on most of our lives.

I believe that the need for internet connection becoming so evident is one of the main points that Blum was making in his prologue. He quotes science fiction writer Bruce Sterling, "As long as I've got broadband,  I'm perfectly at ease with the face that my position on the plant's surface is arbitrary". How I interpret this quote is that because the internet is everywhere it doesn't matter where you are because you are everywhere through the internet. Blum goes so far as to say to say "we're not merely connected, we're rooted".

On the contrary, Blum also believes that although the internet is a global phenomenon, we all have our own little place within the grid.