Internet - A Medium or a Message? (Part XIV )

By Sam Vaknin
Author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited"

These essays were published by the Israeli (Hebrew) edition of PC
Magazine back in 1996, when the Internet was in its formative epoch.
I have left them essentially unchanged, except for a few minor
errata I corrected. I find time travel fascinating. It is
interesting to recall the mainstream view, ten years ago, about the
Internet, its goals, its role, and its future. So, here goes:

Non Linearity and Functional Modularity

The Internet is the first medium in human history that is non-linear
and totally modular.

A television program is broadcast from a transmitter, through the
airwaves to a receiver (=the television set). The viewer sits
opposite this receiver and passively watches. This is an entirely
linear process. The Internet is different:

When communicating through the Internet, there is no way to predict
how the information will reach its destination. The routing of
information through the network is completely random, very much like
the principle governing the telephony system (but on a global
scale). The latter is not a point-to-point linear network. Rather,
it is a network of networks. Our voice is transmitted back and forth
inside a gigantic maze of copper wires and optic fibres. It seeps
through any available wire - until it reaches its destination.

It is the same with the Internet.

Information is divided to packets. An address is attached to each
packet and - using the TCP/IP data transfer protocol - is dispatched
to roam this worldwide labyrinth. But the path from one
neighbourhood of London to another may traverse Japan.

The really ingenious thing about the Internet is that each computer
(each receiver or end user) indeed burdens the system by imposing on
it its information needs (as is the case with other media) - but it
also assists in the task of pushing information packets on to their
destinations. It seems that this contribution to the system
outweighs the burdens imposed upon it.

The network has a growth potential which is always bigger than the
number of its users. It is as though television sets assisted in
passing the signals received by them to other television sets. Every
computer which is a member of the network is both a message
(content) and a medium (active information channel), both a
transmitter and a receiver. If 30% of all computers on the Net were
to crash - there will be no operational impact (there is enormous
built in redundancy). Obviously, some contents will no longer be
available (information channels will be affected).

The interactivity of this medium is a guarantee against the
monopolization of contents. Anyone with a thousand dollars can
launch his/her own (reasonably sophisticated) site, accessible to
all other Internet users. Space is available through home page
providers.

The name of the game is no longer the production - it is the
creative content (design), the content itself and, above all, the
marketing of the site.

The Internet is an infinite and unlimited resource. This goes
against the grain of the most basic economic concept (of scarcity).
Each computer that joins the Internet strengthens it exponentially -
and tens of thousands join daily. The Internet infrastructure (maybe
with the exception of communication backbones) can accommodate an
annual growth of 100% to the year 2020. It is the user who decides
whether to increase the Internet's infrastructure by connecting his
computer to it. By comparison: it is as though it were possible to
produce and to broadcast radio programmes from every radio receiver.
Each computer is a combination of studio and transmitter (on the
Internet).

In reality, there is no other interactive medium except the
Internet. Cable TV does not allow two-way data transfer (from user
to cable operator). If the user wants to buy a product - he has to
phone. Interactive television is an abject failure (the Sony and TCI
experiments were terminated). This all is notwithstanding the
combining of the Internet with satellite capabilities (VSAT) or with
the revenant digital television.

The television screen is inferior when compared to the computer
screen. Only the Internet is there as a true two-way possibility.
The technological problems that besieged it are slowly dissipating.

The Internet allows for one-dimensional and bi - dimensional
interactivity.

One-dimensional interactivity: fill in and dispatch a form, send and
receive messages (through e-mail or v-mail).

Two-dimensional interactivity: to talk to someone while both parties
work on an application, to see your conversant, to talk to him and
to transfer documents to him for his perusal as the conversation
continues apace.

This is no longer science fiction. In less than five years this will
be as common as the telephone - and it will have a profound effect
on the traditional services provided by the phone companies.
Internet phones, Internet videophones - they will be serious
competitors and the phone companies are likely to react once they
begin to feel the heat. This will happen when the Internet will
acquire black box features. Phone companies, software giants and
cable TV operators are likely to end up owning big chunks of the
lucrative future market of the Net.


(continued)



Sam Vaknin ( http://samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant
Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West
Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician,
Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a
United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and
the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in
The Open Directory and Suite101.

Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government
of Macedonia.

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com