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Week 2: Response to “Long Live the Web” and “The Strange Geopolitics of the International Cloud” – Khaliun Dorjderem

“Long Live the Web” by Tim Berners highlights the freedom and universality of internet while discussing how the web and internet is changing rapidly. After reading his work, I was reminded by how Chinese government restricts their citizens’ access  to the internet, they only provide them with the data which they want their people to be informed. Also, I’ve heard all of their searches are being recorded by the government, and Tim Berners said it could possibly influence their job application in the reading. 

 Tim Berners wrote that “universality is the foundation” of the internet, and I completely agree with that. I think the universality of the internet is crucial because everyone should have the right to access information on the internet, not just the information those who are in power determine to be accessible.

Also, the monopolies he mentioned that were using our information for advertisement should stop interfering with our privacy because it is violating the fundamentals of the internet. This issue can be connected to the article “The Strange Geopolitics of the Internet Cloud”. It discussed how a company’s data center can be situated in a different country because of economics or even climate issues making complication in accessing the data for the company. This, which in turn goes back to the Chinese government issue again, making restrictions and building gated community on the internet will result in fall down of the freedom and universality of the internet.

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Week 1: Response to “Long Live the Web” and “The Strange Geopolitics of the International Cloud”- Jikai Zheng

Response to Long Live the Web

When Tim Berners-Lee introduces the world wide web, how (physical desktop), where (Geneva, Switzerland), and when (December 1990) it went live, it made the web feel instantly more personal and specific, and less abstract. Prior to reading this article, I did not question where and how the web became itself; I simply naively thought it always existed. And, since we know the origin of the web, we now also have to “make sure the Web’s principles remain intact- not just to preserve what we have gained by to benefit from the great advances that are still to come” (Berners-Lee 82). Otherwise, the good effects that came from the Web would become isolated into the “fragmented islands” Berners-Lee mentions (82). So, in keeping the web in good shape, with its useful design and continued growth, we must think about universality as the foundation. The experience of using the web should not be impaired by disability, language, or computer software.

Later, Berners-Lee points out several threats to Web’s universality such as cable television companies’ interference and social-networking sites tendency to bubble users’ information within their own sites. These problems make transferable data from one site, or one company, to another much more difficult. This isolation, fragmented connection makes the Web a less universal space. The rest of the article touched on privacy, rights of internet users, and the yet-to-come. I was most uplifted by the Looking Ahead segment which gave way to possibilities in the future. Free bandwidth and open data are just a few in particular I hope to see in store for the future.

Response to The Strange Geopolitics of the International Cloud

Ingrid Burrington’s article and “Long Live the Web” definitely parallel each other quite a bit. The universality mentioned in “Long Live the Web” can be mirrored when we learn that “the things that shape data-center geography outside the US aren’t all that different from” those that are in the US. And, I think that means it’s a good thing, because this means regardless of region or climate, you could potentially have the same access to the Cloud. Then, legal matters will always make for complications, because data sovereignty and a citizen’s personal data is now becoming a key topic for nations. Unfortunately, examples of the geopolitical disputes, such as the one between Microsoft and the US government, are of course, “framed within a US-centric lens”. That may be an issue because the citizen’s personal data may not be in the US, say Ireland where their data-center economy is booming, and yet the Cloud spans international borders.

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Week 1: Response to “Long Live the Web” and ” A Network of Fragments” (Selina Chang)

Long Live the Web, written by the inventor of the Web Tim Berners-Lee, along with an article called A Network of Fragments, have subverted my initial perspective toward the Web, the Internet, and Internet using.

Right at the very beginning of the Berner-Lee’s passage, his words hit my nerve. He indicated that the Web is critical not merely to the digital revolution but to our continued prosperity and even out liberty. Like democracy itself, it needs defending (80). Initially, I actually take using the web and the internet for granted, without any thought of the factors that might be undermined.

There are some fundamental principles in this sophisticated digital world. According to the author, the web must be accessible to all humanity. People can put anything they want, no matter what computer they have, software they use or what language they speak. In addition, surfing on the internet should be on the basis of net neutrality. These two principles remind me of the inaccessibility of sites associated with Google, such as Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter in China. Chinese government forbid its subjects from accessing foreign websites, constraining people from getting information from “outside the wall”. The network in China, is actually walled off from the rest of the world. Even within the network inside, on the Twitter-like social platform Weibo, there are lots of information forbidden. In my perspective, this greatly offend the principle that Lee has set on the threshold of the Web process.

Another instance that I thought of is the smartphone apps. In the latest decade, people have banked more and more on their phone apps rather than the Web. This phenomenon is prevailing especially in China, for me. Take myself for example, when trying to look up for some restaurants to have dinner, I browse other people’s blogs, which are shown on the Web, when I’m in Taiwan. Nevertheless, when in China, I look up food on an app called DianPing. The wide usage of app actually works as monopoly of information and ventures. People have less chance to innovate since these remarked applications are so prevailing, and this create an almost saturated market for these field. According to Lee, this isn’t the result he is seeking for.

A Network of Fragment actually reminds of my responsibility. Since it is so around us and provide us with great convenience, we should try our best to protect it.