Visions of Cyberspace:  Linearity Undone

 

---no boundaries

--no backgrounds

--no bodies

--made of light

---activity, speed

---circumference everywhere, center nowhere

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Telcom Hompage

The Internet - click for large image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tron

Tron

 

 

 

 

 

Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic - click for larger image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Matrix

The Matrix - click for larger image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cyberspace Map of Text:  Linearity Undone

 

TextArc is an innovative way of visualising the structure of a corpus of text. It is an interactive tool and work of art created by W. Bradford Paley. The example below is a screenshot of TextArc visualising the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. All the words of the text are shown, with more frequently used ones becoming brighter in the centre of the oval.

 

TextArc - Click for larger version

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Freedom for All?  A History of the Promise of Cyberspace

 

 


I.                   The Early Years, Mid 1980s to Early 1990s: Heady Optimism

A.      Electronic Spaces are More Egalitarian

                         1. Claim that lack of social-context cues reduce hegemony

                   2. Claim that student-centered classroom paradigm furthered

                         3. Claim of the overturn of power differentials by hypertext

 

 

II.         Coming of Age, Early 1990s: Words of Caution

A.     Electronic Spaces Meet Increasing Critique

  1. Claim that social-context cues translate to electronic spaces
  2. Questioning of the sociopolitical nature of computer hardware and software
  3. Questioning of hypertext as a revolutionary text form

 

 

III.       The Later Years, 1995 to Today: Complications, Complications

                   A.  A Complication of Issues

             1.  Resistance to either/or constructs alongside increasing use of case studies

                         2.  Increased interest in non-traditional sexual orientation

                         3.  Increased interest in issues of access

 

IV.          The Years to Come?

            A.   A Further Trend toward Complexity

                   1.   Continuation of non-binary case-specific thinking

2.      Evolving view of hypertext as a complement to linearity

                   3.   More complicated understandings of power dynamics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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