Final Thoughts about the Course

Huma 1650 was an interesting course nonetheless. It gave an in-depth insight into the Networked Imagination. Entering this course, I had no idea what the Networked Imagination was and what it was all about. It is extremely complex to understand. Some main things that I felt I learned a lot more about throughout the course was:

• Walter Benjamin and mechanical reproduction
• the evolution of the Internet and the networked society
• Cyberspace
  
• Will to Virtuality
• Second Self
• Copyright Laws and the Copyleft movement
• Technological Determinism
• Utopian Optimists and Pre-lapsarian Pessimists
  
• Neuromancer: how technology uses us.
• The Machine Stops: we cannot always depend on technology
• The Importance of Cyborgs: they stand up for people have been denied rights as humans because the hybdridity disrupts certain boundaries set by the Power Elite class.
  

Covering all these major topics allowed me to explore what the networked imagination was all about. Prior to taking this course I just saw myself as a user: someone who uses technology, but in fact technology uses us, and this is something that many of us are not even aware about! Furthermore, prior to entering this course, I always depended on my computer and my cell phone as a way of connecting with friends and family, but now I don't because what happens when the machine stops???

signed,

g.i.a.c.w.

Neuromancer: Major Themes & Conclusions

The question I am going to address today is:

What might be some major themes of the novel?

• The novel has a prelapsarian pessimistic view of technology. Thus, technology traps the individual, and in this case, the trapped individual was Case. Technology created a society which involved drug use and organized crime. This dystopian-like society was full of urban decay.

• The novel involves the use of technological modifications to the characters. These technological modifications fused with human qualities creates what we call a cyborg. Molly is a main character who is considered as the street samurai. She has surgical insets, she is very strong, she has very fast reflexes, she has a microsoft which allows her to read time and date, and she has these burgandy nails on her hand which she can retract. She is seen as the muscle in community that Gibson has created; she can be viewed as the superhero cyborg. This is not necesarrily the case with Case. Case has technological modifcations, but not for the good. For example, he has something inside him that releases mycotoxin that can only be controlled by Armitage (front man of a large corporation). Thus, for Case, these technological modifications make him the anti-hero cyborg. So, we have the anti-hero cyborg vs. the super-hero cyborg presented throughout the novel.
  

• Armitage, who is a sarariman, must be the leader of some large corporation; he is a business man that Molly and Case work for. Armitage is not presented in a positivistic manner throughout the novel, in fact, he is seen as the forefront of a large corporation and he has Case hacking into other systems for material gain. Thus, these powerful corporations are in control of technology. Furthermore, the novel portrays Case has letting technology control him, so if he let's technology control him and the large corporations are the one's who control technology, then in a sense, these large corporations control Case.
  

• Case continously wants to plug in to Cyberspace. This need to plug in explains Case's will to virtuality. This will to virtuality inevitably destroyed Case's physical. This will to virtuality (this will to be in the virtual world) took control over Case. Thus, technology controls Case once again.
  

• Gibson incorporates artifical intelligences. Wintermute is an AI and Neuromancer is an AI. Wintermute has a desire to coincide with Neuromancer. They are siblings and they both have individual characteristics that if combined, they would be considered an artificial intelligence that has never been constrcuted before. Thus, as Case kept plugging into Cyberspace, only Wintermute benefited.

• The most evident theme presented throughout the novel was that technology uses us and we use technology, however, if we become so caught up with what technology can allow us to do through modifications, then we pass the power to technology. As much as we think we have power by becoming half human-half robot, it is the technology that holds the power . Thus, technology is not always used in a way that allows us to escape reality, rather, we become trapped.
  

signed,

g.i.a.c.w.

Copyright Once More...

The question I am going to address today is:

What are the responsibilities, consequences, and effects of the digital on copyright and on internet users?

Copyright, where do you stand?

The old notion that the audience is solely the consumer and the artist is solely the producer no longer stands. It is safe to say that the digital has a somewhat negative effect on the copyright and a somewhat positive effect on internet users. I would say that the digital age has weakened the strength of copyright regulations.

Online, it is much easier to share, collaborate and co-produce because there is no one right there watching you do the manipulation. The internet has created this networked society, globalizing connection between individual users. In this digital age, information wants to be free, thus, internet users are using this to their advantage. The copyleft has invented this "creative commons" where internet users can go to this online application software and find donated art works (music, literature, etc.) and use it as an influence to create their own works. The only consequence I would say that the digital has on internet users is that internet users now have this extreme desire to remix, rearrange, and collaborate, but we still have to remember that copyright laws still exist. If internet users take this form of piracy to extreme levels, either them or their internet service providers can be held liable!

Copyright was originally designed to encourage innovation but it seems to be stopping it. Like mentioned earlier, I believe that the digital has lessened the strength of copyright laws. Copyright is designed to prevent piracy and yes it is true that the amount of raw online source material has been decreasing at a rapid rate due to copyright regulations. Although there are not many resources available in the public domain, there are still resources available and these resources are accessible by internet users. I also believe that copyright laws were designed by the government so that they can control old culture. The government wants to keep culture from us, but culture belongs to us! Thus, digital has weakened copyright regulation because it is much harder to enforce these intellectual property laws on online infringements.

Where do I stand with copyright?

I believe that copyright should exist, however, collaboration and borrowing is essential to creation. I would have to agree with Lawrence Lessig's vision of copyright laws being limited. I believe that artists should be credited for their creations, but only for a limited amount of time. This limitation would allow future generations to refer to previous works without copyright infringement. The creative commons is one of the smartest ideas because it encourages borrowing and collaboration which I already mentioned is essential to creation. If copyright laws continue to be so restrictive, then the networked society will inevitably become less-free and less-creative. We cannot keep letting the government have control over culture when culture belongs to us.

signed,

g.i.a.c.w.