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 probably the only reading I will assign all semester. Although it may seem long it really isn't. 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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9 comments:
As I read the speech I had a lot of general reactions, and thought a lot about the discussion we had in class on Monday about privacy. But what really got me thinking was when he mentioned the fact that the telecommunication companies such as AT&T reduced long-distance calls by 50% to meet the needs of all American peoples. Like that of Vonage, T-mobile, Sprint, and Verizon; Al Gore makes a lot of reasonable generalizations within his speech to the people of Buenos Aries. I liked the fact that he included a lot of the current world’s issues with communications and also the reference to Samuel Morse’s sad case of not knowing his wife had been dead for an entire week. This is something that really makes you appreciate the telephone and cell phone that came about as an effect of this happening to him, though it [his wife’s death] isn’t something to be happy about.
I think his point is valid to a certain extent. To explain, we all are entitled to our privacy; I see that as an unalienable right, and for someone to propose, “Just for the sake of the world communicating,” to break that right is heinous. I wouldn’t like people keeping tabs on me unless it was voluntary, although within his speech he does raise the fact that this is all participatory. I think our progress as a globe is right on track with his speech, although it has taken longer than the end of the century to do all that he proposed. It is now possible to have video chats with a business partner in another country, and conduct business on a global scale while still keeping track of what is happening within other countries. I think that social networking actually helps the “global infrastructure.” For someone to have a video chat, while messaging each other in other countries is a great thing. FB for example is the best resource in reference to this. They have those ads that: 1.) help to pay for that infrastructure, and 2.) connect people with marketers that will, unfortunately, keep tabs on them and what they might like.
I thought the speech was wonderful, if I hadn't been told that it was given 15 years ago, I would have had no idea when it was given. It talked about global networks and huge libraries of information to share with the whole world. I would have guessed it was delievered only a few years ago, right before the huge social networking boom, and when the internet became all that it is today. This idea of Global Information Infrastructure is very interesting. It makes me happy to liv in an age where all this information is accessable to everyone, it certainly makes research papers easier to write.
Right now I'm sitting on a social networking site, getting ready to hit that publish button and share my views with the world, or more or less just the people in this class, but that is exactly what Al Gore was talking about in his speech: that ability for information to circle the globe before we even know it. We have come such a long way in 15 years, from computers being one process machines, to what they are now. It is amazing.
I think that social networking can only be seen as a positive in the grand scheme of things. It brings people together, and shares information efficiently and freely with others everywhere on the globe. Some of the greatest collaborations of minds have probably been sparked through social networking online. Scientists meeting to discuss things, and world powers talking via webcam; it's just fantastic.
While there are some things that can go wrong with social networking, like spying and other forms of illegal information access the people are still getting what they need and what they want legally, and efficiently.
My general reactions to this speech are a sense of sadness actually. I feel like Gore presented such a hopeful outlook and made it seem like it would be a race to connect the globe that all nations could take part in, almost like the space race. However, I feel like there hasn't been enough done in the last fifteen years to give due credit to this speech. The boom in the internet seems to be the most massive thing that I can think of that has occurred. I think the internet is a wonderful thing, but it only helps those that have money for and access to computers. This does little to help those without the ability to get on the internet.
I think, like most speeches, Gore shows a vision that's just a little too rosy. His encouraging others to do as America has done also sounds a bit pretentious. I think that while the world has made progress in this effort, I don't think enough has been made as was hoped to have been made. There are still third world countries where there might be a single phone for an entire village. That is not what they had in mind fifteen years ago. As far as whether or not a social networking group helps that effort or not, I believe that they help to an extent. They help with the effort to connect internationally, because now I can be friends on Facebook with people I know in South Africa and Japan. However,they haven't been helping when it comes to encouraging all people to have communication devices. Only those that already have computers can access these online social networking systems.
Ah, Al Gore. I didn’t expect to still hear some consumerist, lifeless zombie vomiting out another infomercial after I had rid my dorm room of television or mass media. Still, apparently he “invented” the internet, so I guess I have to listen to him for just a bit. Still, the entire speech sounded like commercial for capitalism, and how any country should take advantage of this ripe opportunity to exploit further millions in charging them $80 for a faltering service based on cold-war era satellites and wire-based landlines (if fiber-wire connections were actually connected to customers, internet connections today would be extremely faster; instead the fastest, most economical ISP use very different means of distribution, like Comcast with their already extensively set up cable network, which are usually capable of delivering a 10Mbit connection for not very cheap of a price and horrible rated customer service (few ISP’s have high customer service ratings)). Still, in the terms of a "global information infrastructure", social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace have probably done more wonders to the economy then schools, universities, libraries and hospitals for which he polished this little turd of a commercial with, who actually hold a much more honorable place on the internet, then the vast amounts of porn and online consumerism of Ebay and Amazon. But that is just the thing; social networking has proved to grow to a insanely high-volume website for which millions can be extracted from for advertising, and without the general oddities of the internet! Similar to real life, on Facebook people interact with people they actually know within real life, with the common identities they use on real life. There is no loss of “morals”, just nothing but the same kind of fluff vomiting from Al Gore’s mouth.
I think Gore presents a bit of a rosy pictures (but that's probably his job in his context).
A global information infrastructure is a really cool and idealistic idea, but I wonder how practical the outline Gore offers in this speech here. I think we have taken good steps toward this type of ideal network -- definitely we are globally connected and often that is used for selfless purposes. But also often the power to determine who and what receives connection lies with the culturally powerful. So many people are without the ability to be connected to this global information infrastructure.
My initial reaction is, isn’t this just the internet? It’s one giant thing that can connect anyone who can get a hold of a computer and a connection. I do think he has a valid point though, knowledge is power, and if we can connect more people together we’d all benefit and grow. I think it’s semi-realistic to think we can connect a greater portion of our world together. However I don’t know how willing the world would be to share all information. The government likes to keep secrets, if everyone knew everything I think it could create chaos. As far as progress goes I’ve never really heard of any global information sharing system other than the internet, so excluding that there doesn’t seem to be much of a change. But as for the internet I think we are more connected than ever. You can chat, e-mail, twitter, or skype people all over the country. I think a networking site helps a GII. It create a common ground for the average anyone to communicate. It keeps people connected with people they’d otherwise not know or talk to.
My initial reaction is that Gore's speech seems very idealistic, and our progress as a globe has not met most of the goals he discussed. As Sara pointed out, the problem remains that a vast majority of people in the world don't have access to computers or the internet, despite whatever efforts have been made. (Most of us have probably heard that if the world were a village of 100 people, only 7 people would have internet access.) It seems to me that there are too many political and economic issues standing in the way of achieving this. Bringing technology to the least developed nations in the world is a lot more difficult than it sounds.
I'm also doubtful of the potential for the global information infrastructure to do a lot for representative democracy. On the one hand, it does help spread information and give people a forum for free speech and debate. However, based on my experience, the internet is too often a way for misinformation and rumors to spread, and online, like-minded people clump together and reinforce each other. Most websites are one-sided, and even if people have the ability to vote on comments on a political thread, it's always that one end of the political spectrum is favored over the other. I think that people who turn to the internet to gain information will only end up finding what they already knew or assumed they were looking for. So I'm not sure the global information infrastructure has done a great deal for democracy.
On the positive side, I think social networking helps the idea of this global information infrastructure. As Gore remarked in the introduction and closing of the speech, the internet helps people (in the countries with internet access) to communicate with each other more effectively than ever before. It's amazing that I am sending and receiving real-time video from someone who lives literally on the other side of the earth. I'm sending and receiving letters (e-mails) from my family, friends, and peers instantaneously so that I'm always in touch. Thanks to social networking sites, including Facebook and others, I've been having conversations with people from a range of backgrounds, life experiences, and areas of expertise, and that has given me the knowledge to solve problems in my life ranging from the deep to the mundane. Anyone else (from the 7 people in the village) who is motivated can benefit similarly from social networking and the global information infrastructure.
Gore's outlook on electronic globalization takes a big risk in assuming everybody shares his ideals. The vast majority of people just want to be able to find their music and their favorite shows. They aren't interested in his utopian capitalistic slant. Not to mention we don't have freedom of information and thought like Gore says- patriot act anyone? Besides- with ISP monopolies and the rediculous, outdated copyright system, freedom of information is only held up by the brave few who use their anonymity as protection from the governments Gore was pandering to. The vision he presented is being upheld by the masses through facebook, irc clients, newfeeds, etc. and in no way represents the vision Gore presented. Gore's idea for internet regulation and the private sector's "management" can only go so far- the absolute freedom of the web is the only way true intellectual exchange can be achieved.
I do think Al Gore has a valid point about building a global community. It definitely can be realistic because we have already created a community through the internet. Yet, creating a universal community seems a little too rosy and complicated. It seems like people would have to put a lot of effort into creating a global community. Personally, I do think that we have made some progress considering the fact that we have the internet and such to rely upon. It is easy to contact other nations and remain in touch. Social networking definitely helps a global information infrastructure since we can connect with anyone on facebook from any nation. We can learn about other global networks and such through facebook which is very good. Social networking sites improve the global community.
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