Comments on: Cultural Theory and the Web http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/08/25/cultural-theory-and-the-web/ faults | sins | abuses Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:14:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Gerry http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/08/25/cultural-theory-and-the-web/#comment-175 Gerry Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/08/25/cultural-theory-and-the-web/#comment-175 If I may add another perspective on class and the Web. The money people actually get involved quite late in the game. The Internet was designed and build by a rag tag group of techs, mostly working at universities and a few government and commercial labs. Until sometime in the 90s, non of the financial types, Bill Gates included really new what it was about, how it worked or had anything to do with the design of core practices and protocols. As soon as it become economically significant, the money types are all over it, and to a large extent take it over. Most of the tech remains below the surface and behind the scenes, but one place where the action is surrounds the internet name space (i.e. where you "own" vitia.org and I own geraldgleason.com). It's still very controversial in the tech world how things were handled with the establishment of ICANN (if I've got in right, something like Internet Committee on Names and Numbers). They own everything simply because they already own everything, and actually, rapidly changing technology works to turn the class mobility shaker faster. You need some seed money even when starting in a garage, but there are success stories in every technology generation. New millionaires, not billionaires though. If I may add another perspective on class and the Web. The money people actually get involved quite late in the game. The Internet was designed and build by a rag tag group of techs, mostly working at universities and a few government and commercial labs. Until sometime in the 90s, non of the financial types, Bill Gates included really new what it was about, how it worked or had anything to do with the design of core practices and protocols.

As soon as it become economically significant, the money types are all over it, and to a large extent take it over. Most of the tech remains below the surface and behind the scenes, but one place where the action is surrounds the internet name space (i.e. where you “own” vitia.org and I own geraldgleason.com). It’s still very controversial in the tech world how things were handled with the establishment of ICANN (if I’ve got in right, something like Internet Committee on Names and Numbers).

They own everything simply because they already own everything, and actually, rapidly changing technology works to turn the class mobility shaker faster. You need some seed money even when starting in a garage, but there are success stories in every technology generation. New millionaires, not billionaires though.

]]> By: Mike http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/2003/08/25/cultural-theory-and-the-web/#comment-176 Mike Wed, 31 Dec 1969 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.vitia.org/wordpress/archives/2003/08/25/cultural-theory-and-the-web/#comment-176 Gerry, I gotta disagree. The Department of Defense, ARPA, and the NSF are hardly dime-store operations, and DARPA sending out 140 RFPs for contracts for the first nodes -- to places like UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, Rand, MIT, Harvard, NASA, CMU -- ain't exactly rag-tag. The combination of "universities" and "government" has never equaled cheap, and the internet didn't start in a garage. Money -- a whole lot of money -- was there from the get-go, and it was there because Sputnik scared Ike and the rest of us shitless. Gerry, I gotta disagree. The Department of Defense, ARPA, and the NSF are hardly dime-store operations, and DARPA sending out 140 RFPs for contracts for the first nodes — to places like UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, Rand, MIT, Harvard, NASA, CMU — ain’t exactly rag-tag. The combination of “universities” and “government” has never equaled cheap, and the internet didn’t start in a garage. Money — a whole lot of money — was there from the get-go, and it was there because Sputnik scared Ike and the rest of us shitless.

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