Networking Concerns

The part of Denning’s article that connected most for me was his “bring back Historical Figure X and show him modern technology” examples. He explains that if we were to show Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, or Thomas Edison the modern reincarnations of their technological innovations, they would be surprised not by how they looked or operated, but by what they have come to mean. For as much as we like to show off our flashy cars or our super-smart phones for their aesthetic beauty, the cultural practices surrounding these objects are what imbues them with importance.

This point feels eerily similar to McLuhan’s “medium as message” idea. Denning is not so much concerned about how we can physically build networks or how they might work mechanically, but with diverging human practices that might occur with the rise of networking. He warns that engineers will have to take into account factors outside the realm of technology (like human nature) when designed the networked landscape of the future. That seems like an awfully big task to me.

So how has network technology affected our practices? Well, as I sit here, creating and editing a word document that will soon be transferred to a website where other people can view it at their leisure, all while using a portable computer, it occurs to me that perhaps it has made us lazy. I am required only to use my intellect to write and my motor skills to type. There is no other effort required to get my information to all of you, to the rest of the world if I so choose. It has made communication so much easier, but it has gone much further than that. We are far past the point of necessities. We are firmly in the world of excesses now. Amazon, Skype, YouTube, Twitter, even services like Chatroulette, all sent straight into our laps. We could be fast approaching a point where one doesn’t even need to leave their house anymore. One could vicariously experience life through networks.