How might the metaphor of an ‘ecology’ impact on the way you think about, understand or use the internet?
I think that using the metaphor of an ecology really sums up how I have come to view the internet, rather than just a tool for finding information and communication. I don’t mind admitting that prior to a few months ago (despite considering myself a reasonably skilled user) I had this sort of tacit assumption that the net was mostly technical in nature and therefore I had nothing to do with the past, present or future and that ’someone else’ was looking after creation, maintenance and future development from some central place somewhere. I now see things much more as they are – the net is a dynamic eco-system that depends on it’s users for growth and development just as it’s users depend on it as a tool and a technology. It is the users who generate growth and development.. Sure, at differing individual rates, but the ‘user’ I refer to here is the interconnected mass rather than the individual per se… nontheless, thinking of the net as an ecosystem brings to mind considerations that are pertinent in any other ecosystem i.e sustainablity, conservation, development, culture. Considering it that way, the responsibility (and reward) that comes with being an advanced user is much greater….
At the end of the day, this clip from M Wesch sums it up so wonderfully I had to include a link here… I just think this is brilliance!
How are the concepts ‘information’ and ‘communication’ understood within the framework of an ‘information ecology’?
In the context of an information ecology, communication and information are interdependant i.e each requires the other to be effective. The transmission of information via communication is what an information ecology is all about. Likewise, communication without information.. is virtually pointless. The Concept (#3) ‘Effective Internet communication combines technical and communicative competence’ demonstrates this idea. An information ecology flourishes when both elements work synergistically and likewise, is limited where one is employed too strongly in the absence of the other, and ceases to exist at all where only one or neither are present.
Why don’t we talk of a ‘communication ecology’?
As mentioned above information ecologies cannot be one dimensional and instead must have elements of both communication and information. Communication (alone) tends to have limitations around the attributes of diversity and evolution; which are essential for an ecology to develop, I beleive this is why we don’t think of communication as an ecology. An example is shown in Concept 15 ‘Metaphors of use and communication differentiation’. Advanced users, in using metaphors to describe online dynamics, must be careful to remember that the Internet is unique, and so metaphors really only help in suggesting how the development of the internet is similar, not actually how it is
PEER-TO-PEER
Case Study: Peer-to-peer
I am approaching this topic with a completely open mind (this is largely due to ignorance on my part I admit). and I do realise it is controversial and subject to misundersanding so armed myself with the following reading
- How the old ‘napster’ worked, by How Stuff Works
- An introduction to peer-to-peer computing, by David Barkai
- An introduction to peer-to-peer networks, by Vinod Musuthamy
- Wikipedia entry on file sharing
Information transfer
- P2P networking: An information sharing alternative, by Parameswaran, Susarla and Whinston
- Peer to peer goes corporate, by David Lipschultz (not available, alternate article sourced below)
- Peer to peer for academia, by Andy Oram
- Peer to peer goes corporate, snapshot by Peter O’Kelly from WSJ.com subscription-only article by Bobby White
Community
- Playing our song?, by Henry Jenkins
Legal issues: Copyright
- “Copying is Theft …” And other legal myths in the looming battle over peer-to-peer, by Mark Rasch
- Rip, Mix, Burn: The Politics of Peer to Peer and Copyright Law, by Kathy Bowrey and Matthew Rimmer
- Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Since Napster, by Magdalena Heim-Smith
Security and privacy
- PCStats Beginners Guides: Spyware protection and removal
- Is your computer talking to strangers, by Gene and Katie Hamilton
- Spychecker.com
Socio-political considerations
- p2pnet.net - p2p news
- The Internet debacle – an alternate view, by Janis Ian
Wow… it is very complex issue and therefore difficult to make any sort of absolute statement as to whether P2P is a positive thing to be embraced. There are many facets to the argument and it’s a topic complicated by differing perspectives as to right & wrong, legality, profit and so on. I found myself agreeing and identifying with elements of both arguments for and against file sharing. It may be a slightly overstated anaology, but I think of it in a similar way to how I do Nuclear technology where there are so many positive applications and possibilities where used for the collective good, yet so many negative consequences are possible if misapplied for individual gain… because of this there will be fear and debate i.e the benefits of lower cost, efficient distribution are weighed against indexing problems, and fear of loss by corporations who claim to be protecting artists rights and are agressively pursuing Internet service providers and individuals; there is a reasonable case for the distribution of material in order to provide exposure for the artist and increasing sales of other formats i.e live appearances.
