For this week's prompt please read the following speech presented by Al Gore:
http://w2.eff.org/Infrastructure/Govt_docs/gii_gore_buenos_aires.speech
Please review your initial reactions about the speech. Do you think he has a valid point? Is it realistic or too rosy? How do you feel about our progress as a globe knowing this speech was delivered almost 15 years ago? Do you think that social networking helps or hinders a "global information infrastructure?"
If this concept interests you, feel free to find out more information at:
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_8/borgman/#b12
Do note this is the first time all semester I have assigned reading and it is a speech - please spend the 20 minutes reading it and reflecting upon it as we will be discussing your reactions in class.
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His idea that the world was going to be connected through a giant communication web was seemed realistic because of the advancements in technology. New technology was allowing information to be transferred instantaneously and setting up communication networks was also getting cheaper.
Even his other points of how this network was going to be run with competition and access for everyone did turn out to be true. Having monopolies in the internet is difficult because creating sites is relatively easy. There are certainly private investments and most sites allow free access. Although some regions still lack internet we have seen in recent years that it continues to expand and soon everyone will be able to communicate instantly with any part of the world.
But thinking about when this piece was written, it might not have seemed too realistic. In the past fifteen years the technology has improved so much that even optimistic view like that of Gore still fall short of the technology we have today. Our cell phones can do most things that computers can do and our methods of communication continue to improve at scary rates.
A large number of people not only have access to the internet today, but actually use it daily. It has allowed us to network with others and stay connected with sites like Facebook and Myspace. Sites like these certainly help the world information structure because they allow millions of people to connect with others that attend the same school or like the same things. And as time continues to pass we will see that Gore’s ambitious outlook turned out to be an understatement of how technology would create a more networked world.
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