by Kathleen O'Brien
For the past four days I've been separated from the material world, sucked through my glowing monitor, and nearly drowned in information. Using Dogpile my multi-engine search tool of choice, I began to look for information about hypertext only to be led on to discussions about the end of intellectual property, the soon to be widespread use of "smart" TV's, Steve Mann's new "smart" clothing and the seven wired wonders of our digital age.
What have I learned from my travels? That we are, as Marshall McLuhan predicted, with the widespread use of digital technology, wearing our brains outside our skulls and our nerves outside our skin. We seem to be turning ourselves inside out. From the small space of our computer terminals we are spreading out through our screens to the vast collective territory we have created. In the new, open forum of ideas we are gradually letting go of our need for intellectual property. And in the new digitally monitored outside world we are gradually letting go of our privacy. Between the two we swing perilously from hope to fear.
I am excited by the collaborative work of art that is the web. No longer subject to the approval of an elite, for the first time in history anyone can contribute their ideas, stories and questions to a worldwide audience; and have the possibility of instant feedback. Through the masses of information, we are seeing that we are seldom, if ever, alone in our thoughts. Scarcely anyone is above leaving their e-mail adress for responses and we are all invited to speak up. E-mail has allowed many normally shy people to speak elequently and without fear. In cyberspace we can play the parts of our dreams. We can assume identities impossible to us in the material world. We can dare to show a work in progress and allow others to view our creative process. "Under construction" has become the norm in the rapid flow of ideas that we are experiencing. For many topics, books become dated as soon as they are printed. Hypertext has become a way to keep the story moving with the flow. The author ceases to be aloof from his readers and invites them to contribute to the story. As in oral cultures we can all participate in a narrative.
So although we are being forced to let go of our notions of intellectual property we can be excited by the new possibilities open to us by creating together.
Away from our participation in the still blissfully anarchic forum of cyberspace and on to the tangible plane in which we conduct our lives, things look somewhat more grim. We are being watched more closely than ever before. Nearly all of our transactions result in more data being collected about us. We see our faces appear regularly on video monitors, recieve bank statements recording every place we've used our interac cards, are encouraged to become members of supermarket clubs, recieve photos in the mail of our speeding cars and are asked generally to relinquish our privacy for the greater good. While scanning the New York Times syndicate Computer News Daily, I came across an article describing the marketing plans for "smart" TVs. A proposal to provide free components to bring the internet to our televisions is seriously being considered along with a plan to have 53% of all housholds in the U.S. wired by 1999. The logic being, as with the telephone, if you give it to them they might use it. These televisions will have a variety of features including internet research capability, e-mail, tele-shopping and an ability to create programming tailored to what the collected data dictates to be your personal taste. To me this is just another invasion of privacy in the guise of infotainment.
Last year I found Steve Mann's website and learned about his theory to protect ourselves from video surveillance. At the time he was wearing video equipment at all times so that he could have his own record of his movements. In light of the alarming increase in video surveillance he believed we needed to be able to provide our own data. When I found him again this week he was wearing digital clothing. In micro form he sports a laptop computer, a camcorder, dictating machine, cell phone, pager, microphone and Walkman in a "wireless wearable system." Mann's belief is that we must adopt the technology to protect ourselves from its control. "Shooting back" is what he calls it.
Between the poles of hope and fear in the evolving digital age is a quiet numbness in which we pretend to ourselves that if we don't think about it too much its evolution will take care of itself. But it is only by conscious observation and participation that we will be able to use the medium to our advantage.