Brian Winston, in the introduction to his book Media, Technology, and Society: A history: from the telegraph to the Internet describes the process of scientific and technological advancement within the social sphere. He profiles how a new technology first goes through the process of ideation, then prototyping, invention, and diffusion to the world. He specifies how certain conditions must be met to enable the successful creation and production of a new invention, particularly a supervening social necessity. For example, he details in the subsequent chapter how the telegraph became a social necessity in that the invention and diffusion of the railroad created a need for a system that could help keep trains from colliding into one another. Prior to that, the ideation and initial types behind the telegraph had more of a militaristic use. Thus, when certain thinkers developed more effective means of telegraphic communication before the railway came about, some governments would suppress the potential of these more effective types because of a lack of necessity. This ‘law’ of suppression has often hampered technological progress. Ultimately, there has to be a need before successful invention and diffusion can take place. Winston’s book dives into communication technologies to see how the process outlined herein has been applied historically, beginning with the telegraph and ending with the Internet.
Lawrence Lessig, in his book Code 2.0, examines some important questions that have arisen from the diffusion of the Internet and cyberspace. He draws a distinction between the two in the second chapter of his book, wherein it appears he views the Internet as the technological backbone for the virtual world that is cyberspace. The rules of the world change in cyberspace, and questions of morality, regulation, and speech become paramount. Lessig uses several examples of behavior that would be regulated and controlled in the real world that is rampant in cyberspace. For example, he describes a college student in Michigan who wrote violent stories about rape and murder. This young man developed a major audience on USENET, and when his stories drew the ire of an alumnus of his school, he was arrested and jailed. Eventually, the case was thrown out on the grounds of free speech. Lessig describes this and other cyberspace-only experiences as examples as to how the Internet, while clearly constituting an advanced means of communication, brings about Constitutional questions that the Founding Fathers couldn’t have possibly known would arise so long ago, because the technology to create an unreal space did not exist – issues of free speech, potential threats of criminal activity, jurisdiction, regulation, and so forth. It’s very difficult to regulate the virtual.
Combining Winston and Lessigs thoughts, I begin to think about the supervenience of the Internet. it seems that a social necessity has been established in all the good that the technology of new media has provided – online shopping, email, instant messaging, news, educational resources, and so on. But, on the other hand, I consider Winston’s idea that a controlling or syphoning force, the ‘law’ of suppression must inevitably occur with any new communications technology. It will be interesting to read the later chapters of Winston’s book and see what he has to say about the Internet and this law. As far as I am concerned, I feel that the Internet is a major example of how diffusion of a technology has not been met with this law, except when issues of accessibility and connection speed are brought up. What is actually occurring in cyberspace cannot be met by any real form of suppression, because regulation seems nearly impossible. The unreal has been established in all its glory and ugliness and is here to stay. Perhaps cyberspace is a mirror of the real in frightening ways. As I delve deeper into both Winston and Lessig’s texts, I hope to be able to further discuss these important issues.
References
Lessig, L., & Lessig, L. (2006). Code : Version 2.0. New York: Basic Books. Retrieved from WorldCat
Winston, B., & Winston, B. (1998). Media technology and society : A history : From the telegraph to the internet. London; New York: Routledge. Retrieved from WorldCat
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Tags: communication, cyberspace