On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 20:32:59 +0100, Ulf-Dietrich Reips <ureips@genpsy.unizh.ch> wrote:

imho we shouldn't attempt to find *one* new word for a conglomerate of different services, concepts, and psycho-socio-technological spheres. <snip> Let's differentiate, identify, and regroup our terminological entities!

While I'm all for differentiation, I do think there is a need for conceptualizing beyond the differences in communication technologies. At this point, very little of the media I consume is not digital and integrated into the global computer network (whatever we are calling it). I place "telephone" calls, get my "film" developed, listen to the "radio," and watch "television" and "motion pictures" through the internet. I have a feeling that our conceptualizations, along with our vocabularies, are not keeping pace with this technological convergence. We should have better ways of thinking about how these media are converging, and that should be reflected in the terms we use. Because the levels of integration beneath the application layer are relatively invisible, I think they are probably especially worth considering. So, yes, we should continue to talk about applications and not assume that "internet use" means the same thing to everyone, but at the same time, there is real value in thinking about it as a system, an ecology, or what-have-you. - Alex -- // // Alexander Halavais // Graduate Director of Informatics // University at Buffalo School of Informatics // contact info: http://alex.halavais.net //