Re: CS-234 Discussion

CS234 <cs234@lhmerino.dont-email.me> wrote:

This thread is intended for the students of CS-234: Technologies for democratic society
 
How does Usenet fit into the vision presented by Licklider and Taylor in
"The Computer as a Communication Device"?
 
Reflect on:
- Which aspects of their vision are realized through Usenet?
- What aspects have evolved differently from what they imagined?
 
Feel free to respond to comments made by your classmates as well.

In their paper, Licklider and Taylor envisioned the connection of communities of geographically separated people with common interests, which they can share thoughts and collaborate without having to travel far or wait for the rather slow analogue solutions available at the time. They also spoke of a "supercommunity", which interconnects all members of all communities. UseNet achieves this goal.

However, as already touched upon in the lecture, the authors present an almost utopian vision of what a network like UseNet could bring the world, predicting greater happiness, higher productivity, lower unemployment, etc. The effects brought upon by UseNet are however, to my knowledge, not even remotely this gigantic in scale.

Also, if we zoom out and compare the current 2024 state of the world, the argument could be made that our modern forms of communication, which in essence do resemble the author's vision, have brought up countless benefits; however the "rose-tinted" vision by the authors failed to predict plenty of negative consequences, even consequences directly linked the the mentioned benefits, such as f.e. stress and anxiety caused by being constantly connected.