Thanks Elijah for taking the discussion to a much smarter level. Here's a citation for those curious about the differences between internet-based and web-based networks by the eminent physicist M.E.J. Newman: Newman, M. E. J. (2003). "The structure and function of complex networks." Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics Review 45(2): 167-256. Especially important for those who want to know what scale-free networks are and their relationship to networks that obey the power laws. Lots of math but great reading. I also should have noted that technologies and their infrastructures have HUGE impacts on human society, as in my printing press example. Eisenstein, E. L. (1977). The printing revolution in early modern Europe. London, Cambridge University Press. But here I see the book and/or print as the medium and the press as the delivery device or infrastructure, not a medium. It's still important, it has impacts, but I regard it as unexpressive - a functional device. UH yeah good point. There's function & function - packets can be re-directed to serve different purposes or modalities according to their internal components. I still don't see them as a medium but subsumed in their function without expression per se. BUT I'm happy to note that the discussion is far more important than a yes/no answer. And I still concede that today's students will see the internet as a medium rather than a technological infrastructure - nothing I can do about that! Cheers, Denise (attempting to engage brain before starting keyboard) Denise N. Rall, Ph.D. submitted, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Tuesdays: Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html