classic dys/utopian statements
A dual question: Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations. -or- Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet? Thanks, Nancy -- Nancy Baym http://www.ku.edu/home/nbaym Communication Studies, University of Kansas Bailey Hall, 1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 102, Lawrence, KS 66045-7574, USA Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org
You can look at the Predictions Database to get a wealth of such information. I suggest you first look at the categories of topics and subtopics into which the quotations have been sorted: http://www.elon.edu/predictions/predictioncategories.aspx Then go to the advanced search page and select the subtopic and topic areas in which you would expect to find the quotes you desire: http://www.elon.edu/predictions/advanced.aspx Another method would be to search the database by using the names of individuals with either the dystopian (Clifford Stoll, Sven Birkerts) or utopian (Negroponte, Gates) viewpoints. The book I'll have coming out this summer from Rowman & Littlefield - "Imagining the Internet" - will have an entire chapter on "Knocking the 'Net" as well as many of the gushy quotes of the early '90s in its support. Janna On 3/10/05 12:47 PM, "Nancy Baym" <nbaym@ku.edu> wrote:
A dual question:
Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations.
-or-
Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet?
Thanks,
Nancy
-- Janna Quitney Anderson Assistant Professor of Communications Director of Internet Projects School of Communications Elon University andersj@elon.edu (336) 278-5733 (o) (336) 446-0486 (h)
For good quotes don't forget to look at Ira Magaziner's speeches circa 1998. There are some doozies in there :) And the 'pro-noid' (cf paranoid) 'Long Boom' article, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.07/longboom_pr.html is another classic. Beyond collecting such predictions, I found these articles to be useful in understanding what role claims of radical novelty play in technological discourse. Quirk, J. J. (1989) ‘The history of the future’ in Carey (ed) Communication as Culture, Unwin Hyman, Boston. 1989. Thrift, N. (1996) ‘New Urban Eras and Old Technological Fears: Reconfiguring the Goodwill of Electronic Things’ in Urban Studies, Vol. 33, No. 8. pp 1463 - 1493. Mulgan, G. J. (1991) Communication and Control. Polity Press, Cambridge. (particularly the introduction, around page 14) Cheers, James On Mar 10, 2005, at 1:58 PM, Janna Anderson wrote:
You can look at the Predictions Database to get a wealth of such information. I suggest you first look at the categories of topics and subtopics into which the quotations have been sorted:
http://www.elon.edu/predictions/predictioncategories.aspx
Then go to the advanced search page and select the subtopic and topic areas in which you would expect to find the quotes you desire:
http://www.elon.edu/predictions/advanced.aspx
Another method would be to search the database by using the names of individuals with either the dystopian (Clifford Stoll, Sven Birkerts) or utopian (Negroponte, Gates) viewpoints.
The book I'll have coming out this summer from Rowman & Littlefield - "Imagining the Internet" - will have an entire chapter on "Knocking the 'Net" as well as many of the gushy quotes of the early '90s in its support.
Janna
On 3/10/05 12:47 PM, "Nancy Baym" <nbaym@ku.edu> wrote:
A dual question:
Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations.
-or-
Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet?
Thanks,
Nancy
-- Janna Quitney Anderson Assistant Professor of Communications Director of Internet Projects School of Communications Elon University andersj@elon.edu (336) 278-5733 (o) (336) 446-0486 (h)
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-- James Howison PhD Student School of Information Studies, Syracuse University +1 315 395 4056 http://james.howison.name VCard: http://freelancepropaganda.com/jameshowison.vcf
I know you said "classic", but I've found trendwatching.com pretty useful for taking cheap shots at contemporary technoutopianism, not always specifically to do with the internet: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/GENERATION_C.htm On 11/3/05 3:47 AM, "Nancy Baym" <nbaym@ku.edu> wrote:
A dual question:
Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations.
-or-
Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet?
Thanks,
Nancy
-- Jean Burgess PhD Candidate Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre (CIRAC) Z1-515, Creative Industries Precinct Queensland University of Technology Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059 Phone: +617 3864 3818 Mobile: 0401 733 755 QUT CRICOS 00213J Reviews editor, International Journal of Cultural Studies Postgraduate representative, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia
Apologies for the self-promotion, but here is my take on the subject : Viviane Serfaty, "L'Internet : fragment d'un discours utopique", Communication et Langages, 119 (janvier-mars 1999)106-117. Available online : http://www.chez.com/vserfaty.utopie.html Best, VS Selon Nancy Baym <nbaym@ku.edu>:
A dual question:
Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations.
-or-
Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet?
Thanks,
Nancy
-- Nancy Baym http://www.ku.edu/home/nbaym Communication Studies, University of Kansas Bailey Hall, 1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 102, Lawrence, KS 66045-7574, USA Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org/airjoin.html
My paper for a sociology of science and technology course quotes Kling on this I like his chapter on this. R. Kling, Reading "All About" computerization, in ed. Arge, P. E., & Schuler, D., Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: critical explorations of computing as a social practice (Greenwich, CT: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1997) at 20. my paper is here What do you mean I am a dummy? I read about computers. A preliminary look at the semiotics of the computer 'How to' press. http://www.ncf.ca/~at571/dummy.html A school project for a sociology of science and technology course SOCI2400 at Carleton University, winter 2003. It was taught by Philip Thurtle professor of sociology. http://www.ncf.ca/~at571/dummy.html Peter Timusk B.Math Just trying to stay linear www.crystalcomputing.net >blog>logbook.crystalcomputing.net www.webpagex.org >blog>notebook.webpagex.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Baym" <nbaym@ku.edu> To: <air-l@aoir.org> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:47 PM Subject: [Air-l] classic dys/utopian statements
A dual question:
Has anyone got particular favorite utopain or dystopian statements/landmarks about the internet? (preferably with citation) I'm thinking of things like famous ads promising us liberation from race age etc, Negroponte's "Being Digital," as well as quotations.
-or-
Does anyone know of any papers or lists tracing the uptopian or dystopian highlights of rhetoric about the internet?
Thanks,
Nancy
-- _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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participants (6)
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James Howison -
Janna Anderson -
Jean Burgess -
Nancy Baym -
Peter T. -
SERFATY Viviane