Visions in the Stone
by Slider
As a long-time CUer, I would like to offer the following response to
Leonard,
Brandon, and various
other writers and prognosticators, who continue to regale and entertain with their observations of
CUSeeMe, the problems they've encountered with "exposed genitalia", their skepticism as to
whether relationships on CU can be anything more than "virtual", and whether all relationships
forged on CU can be nothing more than "fantasy"....
The Internet has been described as the eventual planetary repository and memory bank for the
sum total of all human knowledge and experience. If that is so, then CUSeeMe, and other
video-conferencing applications, will become its visual mirror and expression of all that we
are. For better or worse. It will allow us to reach out and communicate visually, textually and
eventually aurally, with whomever we wish across the planet instantaneously. In an age of
increasing complexity and impersonalization, there is a comfort in the friendships and bonds that
are forged on here. However, the shield of anonymity that the Internet provides to its users allows
for a different type of interaction than one would normally encounter off-line. Consequently, in
many instances, this shield provides the opportunity for some users to indulge their exhibitionist
or voyeuristic compulsions.
Recently I had the opportunity to participate in what I considered a truly extraordinary CU event. A
woman that I had known for several years had recently gotten onto the Net. She and her family
were originally from Estonia. Her parents had moved to North America when she was a child.
Health problems had prevented her parents from ever returning to Estonia. She had begun to strike
up an email exchange with a person who lived in a town several miles from the village where her
parents had lived, and where her grandparents still lived. After several discussions with her about
the Net, I mentioned that I had been using CUSeeMe for several years, and explained to her the
basic concepts of video conferencing. Over the next few weeks she downloaded and installed the
software, and purchased a cam. After much prodding and cajoling she convinced her friend in
Estonia to do the same thing. The camera had to be specially ordered and took several weeks
to arrive. Finally they were both connected and had their first dc. After they became familiar with
the workings of CU, they arranged a very special day. Her friend in Estonia arranged to have my
friends grandparents come to her home on a Saturday night at 7PM local time. Which would be
11AM EST. And so, at 11AM she logged on with her father and mother in the room. She dc'd with
her friend in Estonia. And for the first time in over 30 years her father was able to SEE his parents.
The man was simply overwhelmed by it. And with tears streaming down his face he waved and
smiled at them from over 2,000 miles away. The dc lasted several hours. It's impossible to
describe the emotion that went through the room that day. Sadly, just four days later, her
grandfather passed away. This event didn't occur on a ref. It wasn't publicized or even discussed
in public. It occured when two netizens utilized this incredible technology to allow a man from
Estonia to see his father alive for the very last time.
And THAT, Leonard and Brandon, is the ESSENCE of CUSeeMe. The ability for people to SEE and
interact with one another live and instantaneously no matter how great the distance between them.
To dismiss CUSeeMe, and other video conferencing programs, as simply the lair of the
exhibitionist or sexual deviant is to dismiss the true essence of this incredible technology. I would
suggest that instead of cruising the various sex refs, that you may want to make a gift of the
software and camera to a distant relative whom you haven't seen in ages. For in the final
analysis, the power and versatility of this technology allows the user to utilize it in any way they
deem fitting. For better or worse, these visions transmitted thru the silicon stone reflect only what
they see.
Personally, I have experienced the full range of emotions on CU. The shared laughter of good
friends. The loss and sadness of the death of others. I have never considered the people I meet on
CU to be "virtual" friends. I've never thought of them as any less "real" than my off-line friends.
The loss of my dear CU friend
Kerry
hurt just as much. In my experience, the sole determining
factor as to whether a relationship forged on CU is "virtual" or somehow less "real", is the
honesty of the participants. But the same can be said of any venue, on-line or off-line, where
people are meeting for the first time.
What CU is cannot easily be defined, it exists within the beauty of its
own atmosphere. An atmosphere suffused with chat that consists of the
unending poetry of consciousness. Whether these visions are self-serving
illusion or mirage, can not be determined by a cursory scan of sex refs,
and a "sit back and entertain me" attitude.
September 2000
