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"BEING DIGITAL" (MICHOLAS NEGROPONTE).
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Reviews work on computer revolution & ways it is changing communication, culture, privacy & copyright issues.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Reviews work on computer revolution & ways it is changing communication, culture, privacy & copyright issues.
Paper Introduction:
In the book Being Digital, Nicholas Negroponte discusses the meaning of the digital world he sees developing as a consequence of the current and future computer revolution. The spread of the personal computer changed the way people work first and then started bringing changes in other aspects of existence, and the degree and meaning of this change is only now being assessed. Negroponte says he wants to explain the changes that have come about, those that are coming, and to give the reader a chance to understand how he or she will meld with the computer in the near future. The central theme is that the digital world is truly a revolution in communication and that it will be empowering, enabling people to communicate more clearly, directly, and purposefully than they have been able to do in the era of the printed word. The basic theme is that being digital will mean a
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In thedigital future, however, this need not be the case: Instead of delivering a thousand television programs to everybody, it may be better to deliver one program to each person in one-thousandth of the real time. Muchof what will shape the digital future has not been created as yet and socannot be fully assessed or integrated into any vision of the future. Computer companieshave had to develop a number of legal and corporate strategies to protecttheir discoveries. Negroponte introduces many concepts which have been much discussed inrecent years, so the reader is likely to be familiar with most even if heor she heard them in a different context. Negroponte recognizes the potential problems in this area aswell: The next decade will see cases of intellectual-property abuse and invasion of our privacy. In this book the author points to many ofthe changes that have occurred and that will occur in the near future as aresult of the spread of the personal computer. However, Negroponte is not clear about some of the ideas he expressesat certain points. Negroponte sees the digitalfuture as one that is more rather than less personal. Another issue of concern is for privacy. The sort of fears expressed byNegroponte about what may happen in a digital world once our information isaccessible by others has been of great concern for some time, thoughNegroponte sees the danger as much greater than anything that has come topass to date. The basic theme is that beingdigital will mean a different way of interacting with nearly every aspectof life. Work CitedNegroponte, Nicholas. The broadcast of most bits will have absolutely nothing to do with the rate at which we consume them as humans (36).Information in digital form is also more malleable. A photo or video indigital form can be manipulated, changed, and rebroadcast by the end-user,and Negroponte sees this as freeing the individual to be more expressiveand to shape information more to his or her needs. At the same time, this new world of bits and bytes also createsproblems for the consumer and the content provider because of concernsabout security. Multimedia is a meansof expression, but it will never become the only means of expression evenif Negroponte believes it might. Computers are relatively new and involve a number offeatures making them and their software difficult to protect fromencroachments by other manufacturers and designers. The complexity of thetechnology involved and the speed with which this technology has becomewidespread may have intimidated legislators, who may feel that by the timethey devise a law to cover a technology, that technology will be outdatedand something new will be in its place. Congress has considered the issue, the courts have had to deal with itmany times and will certainly have to address it in many cases in thefuture, and the public at large is convinced that there is a potential forabuse even if such abuse has not yet surfaced. Being Digital. More and more people are concerned aboutthe issue of privacy in an age in which virtually everything we do isrecorded somewhere in a computer system. The concernexpressed by the public is that information they give to one organizationbe used as intended and not provided to another organization for adifferent purpose. His predictions about thisfuture, though, are not likely to be any more accurate than earlierpredictions that did not account for the computer as it now exists. He cites the case oftelevision, which today beams a program out to millions of people becauseany further selectivity on the part of the signal is not possible. He seems to be creating a contrast between the writtenword and multimedia and stating that the latter is more powerful and willsupersede the former. The author makes itclear that there are many such devices which cannot even be imagined asyet, but the underlying fact is that digital communication will be part ofour future communications to the point where many current forms ofcommunication are likely to die. The computer revolution took place rapidly over the lasttwenty years or so and is continuing today at an increasing pace.Computers are part of our lives in ways we often do not even notice, notonly in the more obvious personal computers we use at home and the largercomputers we may use in such places as banks and libraries, but also incomputer technology that is found in home appliances such as televisionsets, coffee makers, microwave ovens, videocassette recorders, and handcalculators, not to mention toys and games. The potential for abuse is great. He is correct in most of thepossibilities he sees for the digital future and in seeing that this willmean a different way of thinking and behaving, but he is less certainlycorrect when he talks of all that exists now that will disappear as aconsequence in the future. Thepotential for abuse is great. In fact, thecomputer does what it does very well, but the book does what it does verywell, too, and will continue to do so in the future. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.----------------------- 8 In fact, the computer hasproduced an office even more filled with paper than before. In terms of privacy,though, it is less important how the information is stored and transmittedthan it is how it is used by the organization storing it. More and morepeople are concerned about the issue of privacy in an age in whichvirtually everything we do is recorded somewhere in a computer system. The concern shows thatNegroponte is right that computers are becoming so pervasive that they posea problem if we do not take care in their use. One of the ways theuser will shape information is by means of what Negroponte calls the BitPolice: The consumer will censor by telling the receiver what bits to select. The idea that the computer will replace thebook, for instance, is presumptuous and reminiscent of the old claims thatthe computer would mean a paperless office. The spread of the personal computer changedthe way people work first and then started bringing changes in otheraspects of existence, and the degree and meaning of this change is only nowbeing assessed. We will experience digital vandalism, software piracy, and data thievery (227).Negroponte also recognizes the truth of many other warnings about thedigital world, from loss of jobs to disenfranchisement for those who havenot achieved the same level of proficiency or access. Manyof our fears may similarly be groundless as technology changes, butNegroponte book serves as a warning to be wary even as we embrace thebenefits the digital world is bringing. He also sees the computer as being capable of making decisions andgathering and selecting data that will tell us what we want to know withoutour having to wade through the mass of information available to get to thepart we need. The Bit Police, out of habit, will want to control the medium itself, which really makes no sense at all (55). The arrival of the computerage was so rapid that we have not yet managed to cope with all the changesor with many of the consequences. It is a stretch to carry this argument from the factthat multimedia is more powerful and informative for Negroponte to the ideathat it is thus more powerful and informative for everyone, yet this iswhat Negroponte seems to be doing. Negroponte says he wants to explain the changes that havecome about, those that are coming, and to give the reader a chance tounderstand how he or she will meld with the computer in the near future.The central theme is that the digital world is truly a revolution incommunication and that it will be empowering, enabling people tocommunicate more clearly, directly, and purposefully than they have beenable to do in the era of the printed word. This will totally change how we think of broadcast media. Negroponte sees multimedia communicationas more versatile, more direct, and more informative than the written word. Congress has considered the issue, thecourts have had to deal with it many times and will certainly have toaddress it in many cases in the future, and the public at large isconvinced that there is a potential for abuse even if such abuse has notyet surfaced. The most important aspect of the computer for Negroponte iscommunication by means of the modem, whether through telephone wires or awireless technology connecting the personal computer and the user to aworld of information, to other computers and other users, to the telephone,to the television, and to other electronic devices. This is not merely an assessment of the power of thedigital revolution, though, given that Negroponte in the beginning statesseveral times that he hates to read and so would prefer a multimedia meansof communication. The digital world exists in the computer and on the computer screen,but it also exists in the interface between different computers asinformation is gathered, arranged, and shared. This has certainly been a problemin writing definitive legislation on an issue like copyright, since newtechnologies create new problems in this area. In the book Being Digital, Nicholas Negroponte discusses the meaningof the digital world he sees developing as a consequence of the current andfuture computer revolution. Much of our attention recently has been focused on the so-called Y2Kproblem, or the Year 2 Problem, though in fact no one knows for certainif there will be a problem when we reach that year.
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