I Began reading the information in module 1 and through my experience in the IT support realm much of this is second nature to me, however when I opened the "Concepts: The persistence of history" this took me down a bit of a rabbit hole looking at the programs I use everyday at work and home and how many of these do simply use quite an apparently ‘outdated’ protocol which a much prettier GUI.
The persistence of history: concept 27 (my thoughts :) Its important that as internet technologies continue to develop and drive forward that we remember that the internet is constantly built upon foundations. Many current internet functions are underpinned by the originally designed protocols and tools used at the birth of the internet. Much of the change on the internet is brought about by optimising and combining current existing technologies in a new way. Much the same concept as putting a camera into a mobile phone, the two existed before, but much more useful put together.
Looking at bit torrent which using existing ideas (albeit new technology the idea already existed) developed a new way of transferring large files around the internet has had a huge impact on the way the internet is used by distribution companies and home users. Technology such as this can be seen to be using around 18% of all broadband traffic, which is a fantastic indicator of the potential that a new idea can have on the internet and the current untapped potential of this tool. Are our networks ready for the next big thing? (“BitTorrent’s Swarms Have a Deadly Bite On Broadband Nets”, Ellis, 2008)
Human Computer interfaces: Concept 23 (my thoughts :) interfacing with computers for many hours every day for almost ¾ of my life and using this experience to digest the information put forward in this concept it’s easy to see how the lines of communication can become blurred.
Many different systems on the internet that are emerging play on our vulnerabilities as humans to want to network and interface with our environments and fellow man. This can be seen with the current surge in social networking sites that allow us to utilise technology (that turns quite a hefty profit through its operators) to indulge our needs to interface with humans. Are these companies providing a much needed service to humanity or simply exploiting our needs to further their own financial gains?
The ability to interact with people overseas, people whom we have not seen in many years or even having much deeper and varied interactions with people we see everyday has created a feeling of closeness amongst society and makes me think that the world is not so large anymore.
When looking at these social networking sites as an example of this human-technology-human interaction, what is so different between these and simple Email?? Is the process not the same? I Believe what we have found is a collaboration of existing tools - instant messaging, emailing, online gaming, newsgroups all in one place.. all of these tools have existed for many years, some from the birth of the internet, they are now brought together to form a tool that through its shear usability is now worth vast amounts of money, Facebook alone was valued at $15 billion dollars in 2007 and accounts for large amounts of the worlds internet usage. (“Facebook Got Its $15 Billion Valuation — Now What?”, Sloane, 2007)
Leslie Ellis (2008), “BitTorrent’s Swarms Have a Deadly Bite On Broadband Nets”,
Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332098.html
Julie Sloane (2007), “Facebook Got Its $15 Billion Valuation — Now What?”, Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/news/2007/10/facebook_future
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