idea Course Vision

Even five years ago most people had never heard of the internet, and an email address or the presence of a World-Wide-Web address in an advertisement would have been baffling to the reader. Nowadays awareness of the internet and its variety of functions has exploded into everyday culture, even though there are still many people who have no first hand experience of using the internet.

The momentum of the information revolution seems likely shortly to create a situation where those unfamiliar or unpractised in the activities and skills of internet use will be as handicapped or isolated from resources as those who cannot read and write. Empowerment in the future will be critically linked to skills and experience related to the use of computer networks. These vital skills are not difficult to acquire, and open the doors to a near infinite range of activities, opportunities, and contacts.

There are many books, articles, and magazines about the internet and related topics, many of which are uncritically adulatory, although some are critical (e.g. Stoll). Some of these will be mentioned in the course, but the most important advice is not to believe the experts:- no-one knows what the future will bring in this unprecedentedly complex realm of human activity. You and other users by your actions and aspirations will drive the technical, social, and political evolution of the world of cyberspace.

some refs

Clifford Stoll. (1995) Silicon Snake Oil: Second thoughts on the information highway. London Macmillan.

Mark Dery. (1996) Escape velocity: Cyberculture at the end of the century. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Nicholas Negroponte. (1995) Being Digital. London: Hodder and Stoughton.