After reading the various understandings that professionals had of the word cyberspace, I can't seem to agree more with Howard Rheingold. He basically states that "cyberspace is not identical with computer media, but rather is the context in which such communication occurs; nor is it the same as the computer network. but instead is the sense of place created through such networks." When I would think of a definition of cyberspace myself I picture a broad amount of data in a computer, sort of like in the movie The Matrix. Maybe I'm actually not so far off with the name since the word Matrix actually means the sum total computer network of networks. The Matrix is also known as the Net and also the Internet. Interestingly, I never thought that the term Internet was mostly only used in the U.S. and refers to the specific network that has been supported by the U.S. government.
I found the term telepresence very interesting from the reading. I recall hearing it before but I ever actually knew what it referred to. Telepresence basically allows the person who is using the system to act from a distance, which interestingly is used to operate even activities in outer space. The text on Surveying the Electronic Landscape: An Introduction has really opened my mind and eyes to terms I was never fully exposed to but I knew must exist (since I know operations that result from them do).
I was never aware of how many words actually start with cyber-. One particularly refers to something that I must admit frightens me a bit. It is cyberplace. Cyberplace refers to cybernetworks that include anything ranging from a virtual office, school to electronic versions of actual locations. I subconsciously take part in each one of those listed above-- work conference website, blackboard for school, and Google map. However, actually thinking about it reminds of what might possibly happen if this technology keeps expanding. Will the computers and cybernetworks replace human interaction? I may sound a bit old school but I believe these substitutes may actually take over.
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Old school is just fine, but can you explain why this is a problem?
ReplyDeleteTerms like telepresence were big in the early 90s, along with virtual reality, but have not received the same popular attention over the past decade or so. But they are still out there, and no doubt will come back into popular currency at some point.