"In this reality, to which every computer is a window...."

Communication, to me, is a form of survival. We, as humans, must be able to exchange thoughts and ideas in order to progress as people. Nowadays, we use cyberspace more frequently to communicate with others outside of our social network, but it was not until the mid-19th century that we could communicate instantaneously with the use of the telegraph. As time passes, we keep evolving; new ideas arise, people change, and our forms of communications are becoming more and more advanced (I only wish I was able to know what our next step would be towards enhancing communication that much further), but for now we have our beloved "cyberspace". I take the internet for granted to be honest. I am so used to being able to connect with one of my peers at the drop of a hat that I did not realize the actual steps that were taken in order to get where we are now! (I believe this excerpt from the reading talks about life from and after the mid-19th century) :

"Telecommunications continued to evolve and grow with the development of the telephone, radio, and television, and innovations such as cable television, satellite communications, and fax machines".

As we evolved as people, so did our meanings of the term "cyberspace". The term evolved due to it's growing popularity starting with the term's originator, William Gibson (1984). His idea of cyberspace was used in a much more science-fiction novel sense while others began to take the term seriously, including Michael Benedikt in 1991. Benedikt described cyberspace like a global network of information. After reading this, I believed his idea's were really ahead of his time. Yes, I read that his concept remains unrealized and unreal, but that isn't my point. The point is that without communication, these two people would have never even heard of each other, nor would have come up with such a concept, or any concept for that matter.

Okay, Okay! I know you guys are probably getting sick of reading the facts, but this is what I really enjoyed about the reading. I love learning about the past and how we got to where we are today. These two people (Gibson and Benedikt) were really the first to give cyberspace any meaning, and that is what I found to be the most interesting part.

In conclusion, if we don't know or understand our past then we will never be able to predict what the future may hold.