Soooo many lines. One of my uncles actually worked on one of those early, massive computers here at UW. I had always assumed that the internet was almost entirely a military innovation. It looks like a lot of net development was largely for strategic reasons in the case of nuclear war, but the potential for such a technology was a huge incentive for commercially interested companies to develop more efficient ways to connect consumers. It was interesting to see how the four smaller networks which were mentioned (ARPAnet, RAND, NPL, CYCLADES) combined to form the bigger picture. You can definitely see how important it was to lay down some sort of protocol to get all the smaller networks to be compatible in a larger scheme.
The animation style of this video reminded me of a humorous animation about social networks:
http://blinklife.tv/how-to-help-social-network-addicts.html
This added animation about social networks plays nicely on the video about the history of the internet, exemplifying what the advancements in internet have given us. It also contains a frightening truth about social networking despite its added humor. It almost frames getting back into the "real world" after getting so wrapped up in social networking as a scary thing. Although sad, this is becoming ever increasingly true about our society. Many people, myself included, would rather send an e-mail or instant message than pick up a phone or talk to another face-to-face. Technology has enabled us to communicate quicker and less formally, but it has also provided us with a scapegoat to get out of more confrontational methods of communication.
ReplyDeleteIn one of my classes last semester we discussed the consequences of social networking and the mobile web. People are having fewer personal interactions with the real world because their social networks are traveling with them through their day-to-day lives. While this is a convenient outcome of our technological advancements, it may not be best for our societal developments and interaction skills.
Nice comment, Jenny. I'm curious about what kind of stuff you read regarding losing "real world" social interactions - that's actually a hotly debated issue! There are scholars on both side of that, and we'll talk about it more later this semester.
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