“Who controls cyberspace”? The authors describes cyberspace as being a culture. The author states “cyberspace contents not only of material things like people and their artifacts (computers, modems, telephones lines, etc): it also has major nonmaterial components: relationships among individuals, and the cybercultural contents of their head” (pg61). This reminds me of
Back in the 1970s, the CB radio infused American culture the way the internet permeates our culture today. Semi truck drivers used CB radios to communicate on the road, warning of road hazards and speed traps, and using CB radios as a way to pass the long hours on the road. Soon, though, the rest of America picked up CB radio slang, and everyone had to have his or her own CB radio. Movies like "Cannonball" and "The Gumball Rally" epitomized the use of CB radios, while the song, "Convoy,” an homage to truckers by C.W. McCall, was a number one hit on the music charts. It is interesting to look at the days when CB radios were the hottest new form of oral communication in the 70’s, which drew motorists into a road side culture, filled with their own language and signals. This oral communication drew people in all over the nation together and it was a type of open communication for all to respond to on the road. Although this is a written form of communication it is still I believe it is very similar to the cyberspace phenomenon. As you know the CB radio fizzled out shortly after. I wonder if this is a sign of our future of cyberspace.
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CB radio, Ham radio, and the like, can be considered forerunners of the internet. It's a good point, but it's not enough to make the connection. How does this help us to better understand the more recent phenomenon?
ReplyDeleteI think that Lisa's argument better explains the attention span of our society on new technology. CB Radio was just a new tool developed for communication that was essentially, for those who did not use it practically, a fad. It would never be considered a medium, so it's connection to be a forerunner to the internet isn't strong enough. This is a shot in the dark, but maybe there is a comparison of the CB Radio to voice chatting on the internet. Something that was popular and developed a few years back, that has now been drowned out with Video Chat, and easier forms of textual communication. As CB was a "fad" of the radio, these programs are "fads" to the internet.
ReplyDeleteOf course CB radio is a medium, it's not a matter of popularity. In the early days of radio, it was all like CB, and that free for all is very much a precursor of the internet, allowing for many-to-many communication, as opposed to one-to-one and one-to-many.
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