Week 1: Response to “Long Live the Web” and “A Network of Fragments” – Milly (Yumin Cai)

“Long Live the Web” by Tim Berners-Lee let me reconsider about the internet: like, should we regard the internet as a new form of the human society in the modern world or simply a tool for information?

It’s very interesting to learn how does “internet” and “web” be different from each other, as the web is applied for all kinds of uses and is only accessible with the internet, which is an open supporting system. Making clear of this concept would be important for us to understand how the internet function. Just like Berners Lee emphasizes “freedom” of the web and internet, which means “Freedom from being snooped on, filtered, censored and disconnected” (82). Although we have free access to the internet, the truth is that we are actually influenced or even controlled by some important figures such as the government or some internet related companies. Just like the examples that Lee argues in the article: Apple’s “itunes:” replacing “https:” or information monitoring by the government… In fact, similar examples are not hard to find besides the mentioned ones in the article. For instance, the isolation of internet and web services in China would be a famous case to support this argument. The Internet has no longer been a place of freedom.

However, comparing with the universal standard for free internet that Lee supports, my consideration is that how we define or, in other words, to regard the internet for the current and future society. Following Lee’s logic, the internet still plays the role of an information exchanging tool rather than a new form of human society. Like it is described in “A Network of Fragments”, the effect of the internet exists everywhere in our life. Also as Lee says, the internet is an open way for us to access the web where information is available for communication. The way that the internet deal with data and information just changed our traditional view of social activities and understanding of the world. It has deeply rooted in the current world, which makes it form up part of the essence of modern culture. Should it be still just a tool? If the internet is a tool, then we’ll probably set up proper rules to regulate its usage. But if not, then fragmented methods like laws to protect privacy or allocation for free speech would never be enough to regulate culture or society.

Fiber lines, mobile phone apps or “http:” websites; physical or intangible…the way that internet appears do not really matter. The internet will not die, however, “what would it be” and “what would we human be” are the questions that matter. Thus, I think the question I asked, in the beginning, is quite important for us to think about is not only because we are now sitting in comm lab, but also because we are now living in a culture that will die without internet.

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