The Net Effect

Beth Porter

Description

Beth Porter presents The Net Effect exploring not just how it evolved and what it does, but how it relates to the way we live. Most writing about the Net focuses on a particular aspect: its use for business, its driving technology, etc. This book aims at a broader target. It does contain some useful information about the How of the Internet, but it is more concerned with the Why of it.

Sujets

• Augmented Reality
• Virtual Reality
• Computers
• Informatique
• General officer
• General
• Networking
• Internet

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781841508115
• Langue: English

Extrait

the net effect
Beth Porter
This book is dedicated to the memory of Douglas Adams [1952-2001] - a true inspiration
First Published in Hardback in 2001 in Great Britain by
Intellect Books , PO Box 862, Bristol BS99 1DE, UK
First Published in USA in 2001 by
Intellect Books , ISBS, 5804 N.E. Hassalo St, Portland, Oregon 97213-3644, USA
Copyright 2001 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
Consulting Editor: Masoud Yazdani Book Design: Beth Porter Copy Editor: Peter Young Proofreading Holly Spradling Cover Design: Bettina Newman

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Electronic ISBN 1-84150-811-X / Hardback ISBN 1-84150-039-9
Printed and bound in Basauri, Spain by Grafo S.A.
Contents
acknowledgement
foreword
preamble
Morphing From IT to ET
introduction: the Janus approach
Connections How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix The Importance of Nothing
section 1: the long & winding slip-road
Anatomy of the Elegant Box The War That Changed Everything A Bodyguard of Lies Tunny Turns the Tide Swords Into MicroChips A Decade of Secrets; Computers With Your Tea Defense & the Big Bucks Time of Transition Racing to the Net
section 2: clear-eyed acumen & blind dreams
Tooled-Up Scaredy-Cats Embracing the Beast Who s Spinning the Web? Gallimaufry Information Entertainment & Leisure Commerce
section 3: the da Vinci syndrome
Under the Influence The Virtual Architect Not Crying Over Spilt Paint Fuzzy Boundaries The Book Unbound Digi Display POV Bending Reality Playtime Inviting the Viewer Fashioning Worlds Lights, Camera, Let-Down Reeling You In Tinkle, Tinkle Little NetStar Music to Your Ears Next Stages Buttressing the ThinkTank Reaping Rewards The Price of Talent
section 4: the internet experience
WWWwhat else is there? Here Be Dragons I Want IT and I Want It Now Worker Rights & Wrongs; Web Pros & Cons Power to the Net People Securing The Net Slipping Through the Net Learning CyberLessons Community Spirit
coda: quo vadis
Growing Like Topsy Asking Better Questions Okay, Wotcha Got Now? Tomorrow
index
acknowledgements
To Lord Puttnam and Stephen Fry I owe more than words can say.
I am grateful indeed to those who shared their expertise to enliven the various sections of this book. Without their generosity I could not have told the full Net story. For any errors or points of contention I claim sole responsibility.
Most particularly I would like to thank Alex Allan, Roy Ascott, Stephen Coleman, Maya Draisin, Leonard Kleinrock, Patrick Marber, and Tom O Horgan for their insightful and delightful interviews. To Dr Kleinrock I owe a special debt for his generosity, assuring accuracy in the story of the ARPAnet, usually the subject of much mis-information. I m also grateful for permission to quote and/or use illustrations from Tim Berners-Lee, Demis Hassabis, The Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Andrew Hodges, Joseph Jacobson Tim King, Mitch Mitchell, Pearson Television, Jeff Robinson of Scamper, Sony Entertainment, Andrew Wilson, and the editorial team at www.FaxYourMP.com/
A special thanks to Tom Gidden and especially to Ian Stevens for providing a salutary challenge to some of my technological gaps! I am grateful to my father Ralph Porter, not only for his loving support during the writing of the book, but for alerting me to some relevant historical information.
Thanks, also, to Peter Young for such a thorough and helpful job of proofreading, and to Bettina Newman for her invaluable contribution to the cover design and Rob Pepperell for suggestions of image manipulation. Last but definitely not least, my gratitude to Masoud, Robin, and Sally at Intellect for all the support a writer dreams of.
Requests to quote went out to various sources which received no reply. In those cases I have supplied full identification of the material used, and I apologise in advance if that is considered unsatisfactory in the future. All website addresses were valid as of mid2001, but given the nature of the Net, some may no longer be accessible to the reader.
Perhaps to prove a point to myself as much as anyone, a great deak of the research for this book was done online. I am grateful to the many websites I visited, vital not only as primary sources but to verify and validate data acquired elsewhere. Several provided contact points for people who ve since become electronic friends. Most of the illustrations used herein were downloaded from the Web. Since data compression sometimes affects image quality, I beg forgiveness if anyone feels aesthetically offended by the clarity of the pictures.
Beth Porter Bristol Spring 2001
foreword
by Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE
In The Net Effect Beth Porter does something that I honestly wouldn t have thought possible. She has written a totally accessible account of the history and effect of new technology, with enthusiasm and flair, and without a hint of the expected computer nerdiness that would, I confess, ordinarily scare me off. She makes you see that, in the future, the people she writes about will be historical figures as famous and revered as Crick and Watson, Alexander Fleming or Marie Curie, pioneers whose work really has changed the world for the better.
Christa McAuliff the American teacher and astronaut, shortly before she died in the tragic accident in the US spacecraft Challenger, said, Every day of my life I touch the future - I teach.
Well, I don t teach, but I have spent the last four years visiting schools, teachers and pupils in my role as Chair of the General Teaching Council for England and, honestly, I watch the future touching education, and I marvel at its potential.
The internet has and will continue to revolutionise the way teachers teach and learners, of any age, will learn. Not just the internet either, interactivity and digital technology will enable creative thinkers and artists to find ever better ways of imparting knowledge.
In the same way that technology has made seemingly anything possible in the movies, digital educational content is set to make learning every bit as exciting as any computer game or Hollywood blockbuster. Of course there will always be basic skills to learn, but beyond that is a world in which learners will be set free by digital technology.
In the classroom of the future teachers will guide their pupils through the wealth of information and support available to them. They ll be helped to learn French by children in classrooms in France, their interest in physics will be stimulated by advice from Nobel prize winners, they ll experience human geography with children in the developing world. Teachers will find that, with their functionality pared down to the core task of teaching they will have a far greater opportunity to fulfil their own learning potential, advancing their profession and their pupils along with them.
These are exciting times, as I hope, will be the future for education. Whatever your interest in the age of technology, you cannot fail but be inspired by this book. Any belief that the internet is an alien force that will eventually engulf us is swept away, and its human and creative benefits are revealed and explored in a compelling fashion. I feel sure you ll enjoy Beth s book as much as I have.
preamble
It s exhilarating how quickly the general public has leapt from ignorance about the Internet to confusion and scepticism, to an uncomfortable yet determined feeling that it s something they ought to know more about. Only two or three years ago I was frequently asked by friends who d heard I was working as a Website Producer: What is the Internet? [a question on the order of What is Life? only not so easy to answer.] Now, as an Internet Consultant, I m more often asked how a website can produce business benefits.
For anyone who d like some hand-holding about the structure of the Internet and how it works, please see Section Four. But in this book I want to step through the Net, pivoting around for a more comprehensive view. Not just how it evolved and what it does, but how it relates to the way we live. It s an especially satisfying story, since the journey has depended on contributions from such a wide selection of human cultures. It is still that cumulative contribution which quintessentially defines and redefines the Internet.
I confess. I m a Nethead. An ageing CyberSurfer. A Nerdette. Having spent nearly three decades working in the film and television industry, I thought I was an old-fashioned girl, a parchment-and-quill kinda girl, a donkey-and-cart kinda girl. Turns out I m a fully-fledged Net Junkie. If I can t visit the Internet every day, I experience withdrawal symptoms. I even changed careers so I can justify being online without a guilty conscience. Sad, but true.
It s not the Internet per se which fascinates and excites me, but the possibilities it offers. I m not like those auto-freaks who spend endless hours taking cars apart, ooh-ing and aah-ing over classic solenoids and replacing head gaskets. To continue the vehicle analogy, I m much more interested in where the Net can take me and what I get to see along the way.
There s a wonderful job title I ve seen on various IT business cards: Internet Evangelist. I wish I d thought of it first, because that s exactly what I ve become. I realise not everyone shares my enthusiasm about this digital development. Some hide behind their own ignorance, others are wary of such techno-abuse as fraud, invasion of privacy, and loss of social interaction. I ve tried to address such concerns as fairly and objectively as I can.
I d like you to know why I m so captivated by the Net, and why you already know more about it than you think.