Blog 6: Connections

In this section of Johnny’s writing, communication between those of the early internet were talked about, and the concept of connections was brought up overall. As you’ll see in the end of this post, this actually connects to our recent discussions in class as well (pun intended).

In terms of business, issues arose when large phone line companies like AT&T seem to refuse, or at the least be very hesitant, to introduce connections to the internet through their system. I mentioned something similar in the previous blog, but this does show how these corporations don’t want to take risks when they already have a set in stone system. This, as a result, meant that AT&T were inadvertently against innovation that involved their services. That’s not to say that any and all new ideas that headed their way were ignored, I have no way to prove such a statement, and after all their company could only get as big as they had if some sort of new concept had given them an edge over others. But if cases as simple as the ‘Carterfone’ mentioned on page 67 are anything to go by, at the very least AT&T was against any innovation that didn’t have a clear immediate benefit toward the company.

Connections were also brought up in terms of communication between people. Those in the field were starting to realize that the internet might one day allow those of any distance from one another to be able to communicate as though they were nearby. Though this is true today, there is something brought up about the topic that peaked my interest. If I may quote the quote from page 76 of the book: “In a few years, men will be able to communicate more effectively through a machine than face to face…” The context that this quote was made was about how communicating with others long distance will be easier, but nowadays this statement has gained a second meaning. As we talked about in class, we’ve now seen that a side effect of talking through text on the internet so often has made some people struggle when communicating by traditional means. Face to face interaction is more rare in this field, so cases where people struggle to communicate when actually near to one another has been occurring more often. In hindsight it looks like this hope from early internet enthusiasts became more true than they may’ve wanted.

Questions

• Could this communication issue get worse as technology advances further?
• Should restrictions on internet usage by younger individuals be more commonplace so as to remedy this situation for future generations? If so, does this go against the idea that anyone should be able to use the internet at anytime?

Image from: http://milfordoh.org/milford-ohio-internet-connection/