Hi list members, In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> . I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today. Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no? Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it! Tara -- Tara L. Conley Teachers College Columbia University Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu *"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - Trinh T. Minh-ha*
Hi, Tara, The work of Eve Shapiro might be interesting to you, she discusses gender and technology a lot. I would also recommend Thomas J. Misa, ed., Gender Codes (IEEE Computer Society Press, July 2010). Hope this helps! Peter On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Conley, Tara <tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu> wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Tara L. Conley Teachers College Columbia University Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu
*"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - Trinh T. Minh-ha* _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
-- Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Ph.D. http://petergloviczki.com
I've also really enjoyed the work of Alison Adam in the past - especially her _Artificial Knowing: Gender and the Thinking Machine_. best, Lori On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Peter Gloviczki <glovi002@umn.edu> wrote:
Hi, Tara,
The work of Eve Shapiro might be interesting to you, she discusses gender and technology a lot. I would also recommend Thomas J. Misa, ed., Gender Codes (IEEE Computer Society Press, July 2010).
Hope this helps!
Peter
On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Conley, Tara <tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu> wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Tara L. Conley Teachers College Columbia University Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu
*"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - Trinh T. Minh-ha* _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
-- Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Ph.D. http://petergloviczki.com _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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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-- Lori Emerson Assistant Professor | Director, Archeological Media Lab Department of English, University of Colorado at Boulder Hellems 101, 226 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0226 http://loriemerson.net
The thing that bothered me third-most about that lede, after its flagrant inaccuracy and sexism, is that the issue of who invented the Internet is irrelevant to the article's content. Venture capitalists don't invent anything--they tend to leave that to the folks on the payroll. So that makes the lede inaccurate, sexist, and a red herring--a trifecta of terribleness. ~DEEN PS. You may be interested in the recent edited volume "Race After the Internet" (eds. Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White), which contains an entire section on "The History of Race and Information." On 6/5/2012 1:28 PM, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Deen Freelon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor American University School of Communication Office: Asbury 228A dfreelon@gmail.com http://dfreelon.org
I disagree with the title of the article. It should read: 'GEEKS Invented the Internet' (Along with the US Army, and AT&T for the most part) Three very good books on the invention of the Internet are: Where Wizzards Stay Up Late Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World The Master Switch Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Deen Freelon [dfreelon@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:15 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Cc: tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? The thing that bothered me third-most about that lede, after its flagrant inaccuracy and sexism, is that the issue of who invented the Internet is irrelevant to the article's content. Venture capitalists don't invent anything--they tend to leave that to the folks on the payroll. So that makes the lede inaccurate, sexist, and a red herring--a trifecta of terribleness. ~DEEN PS. You may be interested in the recent edited volume "Race After the Internet" (eds. Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White), which contains an entire section on "The History of Race and Information." On 6/5/2012 1:28 PM, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Deen Freelon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor American University School of Communication Office: Asbury 228A dfreelon@gmail.com http://dfreelon.org _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
I personally think the term "geek" doesn't mean much. You could as well say "GEEKS invented the inner combustion engine" or "GEEKS invented the photography". It doesn't give any new information. Shouldn't news be about news? Inventing as such is a bit overrated anyway. It's the *process* of a number of great minds and coincidences that produce these "inventions". Best regards, --- Meelis Ojasild Advertising & Publicity Studies On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:19 PM, Thomas Jones <tajone02@syr.edu> wrote:
I disagree with the title of the article.
It should read: 'GEEKS Invented the Internet' (Along with the US Army, and AT&T for the most part)
Three very good books on the invention of the Internet are:
Where Wizzards Stay Up Late Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World The Master Switch
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu
ischool.syr.edu
THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu
________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Deen Freelon [dfreelon@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:15 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Cc: tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?
The thing that bothered me third-most about that lede, after its flagrant inaccuracy and sexism, is that the issue of who invented the Internet is irrelevant to the article's content. Venture capitalists don't invent anything--they tend to leave that to the folks on the payroll. So that makes the lede inaccurate, sexist, and a red herring--a trifecta of terribleness. ~DEEN
PS. You may be interested in the recent edited volume "Race After the Internet" (eds. Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White), which contains an entire section on "The History of Race and Information."
On 6/5/2012 1:28 PM, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is< http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins... . The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine< http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who...
today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Deen Freelon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor American University School of Communication Office: Asbury 228A dfreelon@gmail.com http://dfreelon.org
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
The issue you address is a matter of the branding of the term "Geeks". Fine, Ill concede... "NERDS Invented the Internet" :) Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Meelis Ojasild [meelis.ojasild@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:27 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? I personally think the term "geek" doesn't mean much. You could as well say "GEEKS invented the inner combustion engine" or "GEEKS invented the photography". It doesn't give any new information. Shouldn't news be about news? Inventing as such is a bit overrated anyway. It's the *process* of a number of great minds and coincidences that produce these "inventions". Best regards, --- Meelis Ojasild Advertising & Publicity Studies On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:19 PM, Thomas Jones <tajone02@syr.edu> wrote:
I disagree with the title of the article.
It should read: 'GEEKS Invented the Internet' (Along with the US Army, and AT&T for the most part)
Three very good books on the invention of the Internet are:
Where Wizzards Stay Up Late Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World The Master Switch
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu
ischool.syr.edu
THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu
________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Deen Freelon [dfreelon@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:15 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Cc: tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?
The thing that bothered me third-most about that lede, after its flagrant inaccuracy and sexism, is that the issue of who invented the Internet is irrelevant to the article's content. Venture capitalists don't invent anything--they tend to leave that to the folks on the payroll. So that makes the lede inaccurate, sexist, and a red herring--a trifecta of terribleness. ~DEEN
PS. You may be interested in the recent edited volume "Race After the Internet" (eds. Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White), which contains an entire section on "The History of Race and Information."
On 6/5/2012 1:28 PM, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is< http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins... . The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine< http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who...
today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Deen Freelon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor American University School of Communication Office: Asbury 228A dfreelon@gmail.com http://dfreelon.org
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue. the other real problem with the title is the term invented. no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet.
Doubtful anyone knows who Heddy Lamar is anymore, but I do agree in general with your statement. Many people contributed to what we know as the internet, including the bbsers and phone phreakers who expanded on its usage. -Sharon Greenfield Ethnographer Portishead Research LLC On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:56 AM, Jeremy hunsinger wrote:
other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue.
the other real problem with the title is the term invented.
no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
I agree - sort of. Yes, the invention of the Internet involved many parties. But we must understand that the underlying infrastructure was mostly built by the US Army and AT&T (with latecomer Verizon). Tim Wu dives into this in his book "The Master Switch". The closest singular person I can think of who "invented" the Internet would be J. C. R. Licklider. And lets not confuse the Internet with the World Wide Web. The Internet isnt composed entirely of web servers - it is here that Universities contributed heavily with the Department of Defense. Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Jeremy hunsinger [jeremy@tmttlt.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:56 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue. the other real problem with the title is the term invented. no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
FWIW - The Chicago Law Review published a long (~20,000 words!) and quite critical review of Wu's "Master Switch" last fall. A free download is available at the bottom of http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/page/vol-78-issue-4-fall-2011. Book Review: Are Those Who Ignore History Doomed to Repeat It? Peter Decherney, Nathan Ensmenger, & Christopher S. Yoo A Review of "The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires," by Tim Wu Andy On Jun 5, 2012, at 3:14 PM, Thomas Jones wrote:
I agree - sort of.
Yes, the invention of the Internet involved many parties. But we must understand that the underlying infrastructure was mostly built by the US Army and AT&T (with latecomer Verizon). Tim Wu dives into this in his book "The Master Switch".
The closest singular person I can think of who "invented" the Internet would be J. C. R. Licklider. And lets not confuse the Internet with the World Wide Web. The Internet isnt composed entirely of web servers - it is here that Universities contributed heavily with the Department of Defense.
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu
ischool.syr.edu
THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu
________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Jeremy hunsinger [jeremy@tmttlt.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:56 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?
other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue.
the other real problem with the title is the term invented.
no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
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I would offer that this critique is criticizing more the selection of Wu's particular Cycle identified, among the presence of many other possible cycles. It also takes aim at the lack of explanation of the true complexity of how the US Government intervened to enable or disable the mentioned cycles. As with most scholarly dissent, they are criticizing the research method and resultant hypothetical conclusivity behind the point being made, rather than the factual substance upon which said point is based on. In other words you have a 20,000 word scholarly critique on a book which isn't targeted toward scholars, and it would be counterproductive to have done so given who Tim Wu is. This isnt a terribly shocking revelation. Personally this is a non-issue, and this type of dissension among scholars is nothing more than an intellectual ego contest - one which is quite unproductive. If Wu's work is so discreditable, I would invite said scholars to point to other popularly accepted and published books about the other such potential cycles, and tie them together such as Wu did. Otherwise there isnt much to contend. My background is in network engineering. I understand how the Internet is connected and operates. The underlying core of today's internet was built upon existing telephony systems (later incorporating TV Cable systems) - telephony was the only medium which connected the people of the US more densely than any other technology at the time. For anyone to assert otherwise lacks due diligence understand how information fundamentally traverses the Internet itself. The telephony presence in the US was established mostly by the US Army and AT&T - or in other perspectives what was to become AT&T for conversational purposes. The story of how AT&T became AT&T, and currently is AT&T is a book in and of itself. One example: The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. US Government intellectual property protection that allowed AT&T to become such a national monopoly, is what enabled the market penetration upon which, later, the Internet depended on for its success and prominence. AT&T enjoyed this protection for approximately 80 or so years under the direction and philosophy of one Theodore Vail an early President of AT&T - I dont have the book with me now else Id be more specific. AT&T and the USG saw the threat of innovation to be so dangerous to stability of telephony technology (reference the Hush-a-Phone), that it wasn't until a researcher of Bell Labs discovered in the 1990's that AT&T had actually created a voicemail system based on magnetic tape storage in the 1930's! They thought it would “lead the public to abandon the telephone.” Imagine where we would be today, for the good and bad, if such innovation was to allow to occur when it was originally developed. The person who began to place the pieces of the puzzle together during the infancy of computing, and achieve traction in the initiative to what was to eventually become the Internet (a large piece of the pie of what was to become the Internet) via connecting disparate computing systems in his office together, and further for the Government, was J.C.R Licklider. He is one of the most attributable forefathers of the Internet - among Vint Cerf, and Tim Berners-Lee, but certainly not the only one. Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Andrew Russell [arussell@stevens.edu] Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 10:00 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? FWIW - The Chicago Law Review published a long (~20,000 words!) and quite critical review of Wu's "Master Switch" last fall. A free download is available at the bottom of http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/page/vol-78-issue-4-fall-2011. Book Review: Are Those Who Ignore History Doomed to Repeat It? Peter Decherney, Nathan Ensmenger, & Christopher S. Yoo A Review of "The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires," by Tim Wu Andy On Jun 5, 2012, at 3:14 PM, Thomas Jones wrote:
I agree - sort of.
Yes, the invention of the Internet involved many parties. But we must understand that the underlying infrastructure was mostly built by the US Army and AT&T (with latecomer Verizon). Tim Wu dives into this in his book "The Master Switch".
The closest singular person I can think of who "invented" the Internet would be J. C. R. Licklider. And lets not confuse the Internet with the World Wide Web. The Internet isnt composed entirely of web servers - it is here that Universities contributed heavily with the Department of Defense.
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu
ischool.syr.edu
THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu
________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Jeremy hunsinger [jeremy@tmttlt.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:56 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?
other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue.
the other real problem with the title is the term invented.
no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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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Apologies for a second email, but in an odd twist of irony, I was scrolling through the huffington post website and saw an article labeled "Did this man Invent the Internet", and in that, a referenced link to Live Science on the Internet History Timeline. Links below: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/paul-otlet-belgian-invent-internet-... http://www.livescience.com/20727-internet-history.html Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Thomas Jones [tajone02@syr.edu] Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 12:27 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? I would offer that this critique is criticizing more the selection of Wu's particular Cycle identified, among the presence of many other possible cycles. It also takes aim at the lack of explanation of the true complexity of how the US Government intervened to enable or disable the mentioned cycles. As with most scholarly dissent, they are criticizing the research method and resultant hypothetical conclusivity behind the point being made, rather than the factual substance upon which said point is based on. In other words you have a 20,000 word scholarly critique on a book which isn't targeted toward scholars, and it would be counterproductive to have done so given who Tim Wu is. This isnt a terribly shocking revelation. Personally this is a non-issue, and this type of dissension among scholars is nothing more than an intellectual ego contest - one which is quite unproductive. If Wu's work is so discreditable, I would invite said scholars to point to other popularly accepted and published books about the other such potential cycles, and tie them together such as Wu did. Otherwise there isnt much to contend. My background is in network engineering. I understand how the Internet is connected and operates. The underlying core of today's internet was built upon existing telephony systems (later incorporating TV Cable systems) - telephony was the only medium which connected the people of the US more densely than any other technology at the time. For anyone to assert otherwise lacks due diligence understand how information fundamentally traverses the Internet itself. The telephony presence in the US was established mostly by the US Army and AT&T - or in other perspectives what was to become AT&T for conversational purposes. The story of how AT&T became AT&T, and currently is AT&T is a book in and of itself. One example: The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. US Government intellectual property protection that allowed AT&T to become such a national monopoly, is what enabled the market penetration upon which, later, the Internet depended on for its success and prominence. AT&T enjoyed this protection for approximately 80 or so years under the direction and philosophy of one Theodore Vail an early President of AT&T - I dont have the book with me now else Id be more specific. AT&T and the USG saw the threat of innovation to be so dangerous to stability of telephony technology (reference the Hush-a-Phone), that it wasn't until a researcher of Bell Labs discovered in the 1990's that AT&T had actually created a voicemail system based on magnetic tape storage in the 1930's! They thought it would “lead the public to abandon the telephone.” Imagine where we would be today, for the good and bad, if such innovation was to allow to occur when it was originally developed. The person who began to place the pieces of the puzzle together during the infancy of computing, and achieve traction in the initiative to what was to eventually become the Internet (a large piece of the pie of what was to become the Internet) via connecting disparate computing systems in his office together, and further for the Government, was J.C.R Licklider. He is one of the most attributable forefathers of the Internet - among Vint Cerf, and Tim Berners-Lee, but certainly not the only one. Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu ischool.syr.edu THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Andrew Russell [arussell@stevens.edu] Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 10:00 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? FWIW - The Chicago Law Review published a long (~20,000 words!) and quite critical review of Wu's "Master Switch" last fall. A free download is available at the bottom of http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/page/vol-78-issue-4-fall-2011. Book Review: Are Those Who Ignore History Doomed to Repeat It? Peter Decherney, Nathan Ensmenger, & Christopher S. Yoo A Review of "The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires," by Tim Wu Andy On Jun 5, 2012, at 3:14 PM, Thomas Jones wrote:
I agree - sort of.
Yes, the invention of the Internet involved many parties. But we must understand that the underlying infrastructure was mostly built by the US Army and AT&T (with latecomer Verizon). Tim Wu dives into this in his book "The Master Switch".
The closest singular person I can think of who "invented" the Internet would be J. C. R. Licklider. And lets not confuse the Internet with the World Wide Web. The Internet isnt composed entirely of web servers - it is here that Universities contributed heavily with the Department of Defense.
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
Syracuse University Hinds Hall Syracuse, New York 13244 t 919.809.9454 e tajone02syr.edu
ischool.syr.edu
THE CAMPAIGN FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY campaign.syr.edu
________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] on behalf of Jeremy hunsinger [jeremy@tmttlt.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:56 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'?
other than the gender bias issue... which i agree is just distasteful and untrue.
the other real problem with the title is the term invented.
no one invented the internet. a great number of people contributed to early networking technologies, and eventually someone named a protocol inter-networking protocol. so at best we have someone who named one operational parameter of the internet, but no one invented it, no one as best as i can tell from my readings aimed for anything like it is today until around 1996 when it became an object of commercial policy and by then... it really was an assemblage of operating protocols and networks that were quite old. it isn't like ethernet, where we have a possible inventor at all. for instance, who can name the famous actress who worked on on operational protocol for radio switching that we now use in 801.11 radio based internets? you all know her... she didn't invent the internet, but she patented something very important to today's internet. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
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Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
Hi there, You may find the work of Susan Herring to be of some use to you. She's a linguist who has done pioneering research on gender and CMC (as well as other computer- and textually-related linguistic research). A lot of her work is available free to access from her website which is always appreciated. Best, Barb -- Barbara Clark, PhD student School of Languages, Linguistics and Film Queen Mary, University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom b.l.clark@qmul.ac.uk http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/blclark/QMUL/Welcome.html On 5 Jun 2012, at 18:28, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.html> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-people-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Tara L. Conley Teachers College Columbia University Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu
*"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - Trinh T. Minh-ha* _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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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I suppose, just to be complete, we ought to unpack the only remaining word in the lede: "the"... in this case, the definite article implying there's only one. Even early on, there was a variety of interconnected networks for different purposes, and there's always been a set of "off-line" networks that one might more broadly consider when thinking about "the" internet (with or without the capital i). But I'm surprised nobody has invoked Ellul yet in this thread... is it even appropriate to talk about humans inventing the internet? Should we not consider the ways in which technology has its own imperative? In a sense, the internet evolved itself and spawned nerds and geeks as a necessary support organ :) /whimsy off Having heard Grace Hopper speak when I was an undergrad, I celebrate her as co-subject in this wonderful tech/human evolution! Thanks to all for an interesting and thoughtful thread to read today... Steve ======================== Steven Lovaas IT Security Manager (and PhD student) Colorado State University Steven.Lovaas@ColoState.edu 970-297-3707 ======================== -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Barbara Clark Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 1:12 PM To: Conley, Tara Cc: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] 'MEN Invented the Internet'? Hi there, You may find the work of Susan Herring to be of some use to you. She's a linguist who has done pioneering research on gender and CMC (as well as other computer- and textually-related linguistic research). A lot of her work is available free to access from her website which is always appreciated. Best, Barb -- Barbara Clark, PhD student School of Languages, Linguistics and Film Queen Mary, University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom b.l.clark@qmul.ac.uk http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/blclark/QMUL/Welcome.html On 5 Jun 2012, at 18:28, Conley, Tara wrote:
Hi list members,
In case you haven't already seen David Streitfeld's controversial NYTimes piece this weekend, here it is<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/technology/lawsuit-against-kleiner-perkins-is-shaking-silicon-valley.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimes>. The controversy stems from his lede, "MEN invented the Internet'. You may also be interested in the response from tech journalist Xeni Jardin<http://boingboing.net/2012/06/03/nyt-men-invented-the-inter.htm l> .
I also wrote a response piece about the controversy from an historical perspective for Ms. Magazine<http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/06/04/the-women-and-peop le-of-color-who-invented-the-internet/> today.
Interesting to think about the history of the Internet in terms of gender and 'race' consciousness, no?
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
Tara
-- Tara L. Conley Teachers College Columbia University Ed.D. Student in Computing Communication & Technology in Education tlc2132@tc.columbia.edu
*"If you can't locate the other, how are you to locate your-self?" - Trinh T. Minh-ha* _______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@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://www.aoir.org/
Another reference to add to the discussion: Beyer, Kurt W. 2009. Grace Hopper and the invention of the information age. MIT Press. Cambridge & London. One chapter is entitled: The beginning of a computing community The point has already been made - without a 'computing community' none of this would have happened . . . Dr Denise N. Rall, Research Assistant, School of Health & Human Sciences Popcaanz Popular Culture Australasia New Zealand June 26-29 Melbourne Australia Presentation: The Bride as Banquet - Costume and the consumption of Desire Denise N. Rall, Mobile +(61)(0)438 233344 Fax +(61)(0)2 6624 5380
On 06/05/2012 01:28 PM, Conley, Tara wrote:
Also, if any list members could recommend further reading on Internet history (including computing) that includes discussions about gender, 'race', and so forth, I'd appreciate it!
I really appreciated this thread and it prompted me to write a blog entry on the topic. <http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/social/gender/female-internet-pioneers> 2012 Jun 06 | Female Internet pioneers: A history yet to be done Legal scholars have a saying that hard cases (i.e., unusual/confused) make bad law (i.e., legal decisions). The recent lead in a story about sexual harassment in IT venture capital is probably a poor case for me to write something sensible. But the claim that "men invented the Internet" prompted an interesting discussion on the AIR list that is worth pointing out. Among the many excellent posts: 1. Deen Freelon notes the lead really has nothing to do with the story. 2. Burcu Bakioglu, Charlie Breindahl, Jeremy Hunsinger and Meelis Ojasild note the idea of invention is a simplification of complex and interrelated events. 3. Steven Lovaas notes "the" Internet is actually a network of networks. 4. Tara Conley notes a number of (now) famous women who contributed to information technology. While these are valid and interesting points, I confess I find them unsatisfying. If we stick with the commonsensical understanding of the lead, without recourse to unpacking "invention," expanding what we mean by the Internet, or invoking Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace, what can we conclude? What if we purposefully looked for women pioneers of the Internet and found that only 10%, or 1%, or even 0% of them are women? I would claim this is more a reflection of society than the worth of women. (Though, I admit, this is not the inference most people draw, and is not as potent tactically in mainstream discourse.) In any case, who were some of the notable female contributors to the Internet? Virginia Strazisar * At the Internet Society's Hall of Fame, women pioneers are 7% (1/14). [Society20122ih] * Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler * On its Early Internet Leaders page, women are 7% (9/128). [Society2012eil] * Susan Estrada * Judy Estrin * (Feinler) * Elise Gerich * Susan Hares * Sandy Lerner * Radia Perlman * Joyce Reynolds * Virginia Strazisar * In RFC 1336, women are 8% (2/24). [Malkin1992r1w] * (Estrin) * (Reynolds) Sadly, around 10% is a common figure when it comes to women in some IT-related endeavors. (Of the 9 women listed, 56% (5/9) have Wikipedia pages atleast!) In any case, unfortunately, the contributions, perspectives, and history of these women have simply not been captured yet - to the best of my knowledge of course.
participants (13)
-
Andrew Russell -
Barbara Clark -
Conley, Tara -
Deen Freelon -
Denise N. Rall -
Jeremy hunsinger -
Joseph Reagle -
live -
Lori Emerson -
Lovaas,Steven -
Meelis Ojasild -
Peter Gloviczki -
Thomas Jones