Comments on: The Gilded Age Internet and the People's Telephone http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/ Rob MacDougall Dot Org Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bookmarks about Blog http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-922 Bookmarks about Blog Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:45:18 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-922 [...] - bookmarked by 2 members originally found by HMCgirl on 2008-11-08 The Gilded Age Internet and the People’s Telephone http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/ [...] [...] – bookmarked by 2 members originally found by HMCgirl on 2008-11-08 The Gilded Age Internet and the People’s Telephone http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/ [...]

]]> By: Rob http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-921 Rob Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:57:31 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-921 Thanks, Holly! I wish I could remember where that picture (of the telephone headed sheep) came from, but I grabbed it off the web years ago. Anyway, I have FINALLY gotten around to visiting and exploring Wonders and Marvels, which is just terrific. I've also linked to you on my somewhat unreliable blog-roll. all best, Rob Thanks, Holly! I wish I could remember where that picture (of the telephone headed sheep) came from, but I grabbed it off the web years ago. Anyway, I have FINALLY gotten around to visiting and exploring Wonders and Marvels, which is just terrific. I’ve also linked to you on my somewhat unreliable blog-roll.

all best,
Rob

]]> By: Holly http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-920 Holly Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:10:19 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-920 Ok, I've looked at this picture 3 times in the past 7 days. It creeps me out each time. Something really uncanny and unsettling about it. Thanks for the thrill! By the way, just linked to you over at http://www.wondersandmarvels.com Ok, I’ve looked at this picture 3 times in the past 7 days. It creeps me out each time. Something really uncanny and unsettling about it. Thanks for the thrill!

By the way, just linked to you over at http://www.wondersandmarvels.com

]]> By: beaten tracks « by the wayside http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-919 beaten tracks « by the wayside Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:52:48 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-919 [...] what’s the Gilded Age internet? The telephone. Seriously, that’s a very well-drawn analogy, from the story of the replacement of “the [...] [...] what’s the Gilded Age internet? The telephone. Seriously, that’s a very well-drawn analogy, from the story of the replacement of “the [...]

]]> By: Andy Walpole http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-918 Andy Walpole Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:02:00 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-918 Great stuff! I'll add this to the next history carnival... Great stuff!

I’ll add this to the next history carnival…

]]> By: Do You Feel Lucky, Steampunk? http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-917 Do You Feel Lucky, Steampunk? Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:44:04 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-917 [...] The Gilded Age Internet and the People’s TelephonePlus the Jimmy Carterian Internet and the Millennial Pneumatic Tube. [...] [...] The Gilded Age Internet and the People’s TelephonePlus the Jimmy Carterian Internet and the Millennial Pneumatic Tube. [...]

]]> By: The Constructivist http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-916 The Constructivist Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:43:50 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-916 Great post! Have I recommended Tom Keenan's and Wendy Chun's co-edited collection <I>The Archeology of New Media</I> to you 10 times yet? (I can't remember if I've done it once.) She's Canadjian, btw, and her book <I>Control and Freedom</I> rocks. But my real purpose for commenting is to see if you wanted to get together at the Falls or Fort Erie with the girls anytime this summer.... Great post!

Have I recommended Tom Keenan’s and Wendy Chun’s co-edited collection The Archeology of New Media to you 10 times yet? (I can’t remember if I’ve done it once.) She’s Canadjian, btw, and her book Control and Freedom rocks.

But my real purpose for commenting is to see if you wanted to get together at the Falls or Fort Erie with the girls anytime this summer….

]]> By: Rob http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-915 Rob Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:36:55 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-915 Thanks, all! Peter: Thanks especially for the tip re: Jon Agar's book. I didn't know of it before now - to my chagrin, as I think his book "The Government Machine" is terrific. Thanks, all!
Peter: Thanks especially for the tip re: Jon Agar’s book. I didn’t know of it before now – to my chagrin, as I think his book “The Government Machine” is terrific.

]]> By: PD Smith http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-914 PD Smith Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:48:27 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-914 Sounds like a fascinating project(s)! Do you know Jon Agar's book "Constant Touch"? It's about mobile phones... might be of interest... Sounds like a fascinating project(s)!

Do you know Jon Agar’s book “Constant Touch”? It’s about mobile phones… might be of interest…

]]> By: Nick Milne http://www.robmacdougall.org/blog/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-913 Nick Milne Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:24:52 +0000 http://www.robmacdougall.org/index.php/2008/07/the-gilded-age-internet-and-the-peoples-telephone/#comment-913 This is one of my favourite posts ever, Rob. Very well done indeed! I should add (though you likely know this already) that the issue of "bandwith hogs" is both highly exaggerated and already being cited by precisely the same sort of groups you mention. The creation of a Tiered Internet, of sorts, seems almost inevitable at this point unless certain free enterprisers (or whatever we might call them) are able to beat the system by developing superior soft- and hardware to enable an open sort of world. The Internet we have right now is by no means ideal, but compared to some of the things that the major companies are proposing it's sort of a paradise. I can see a future in which people give up on the thing entirely rather than put up with the restrictions placed upon them. You're right to be wary of relying on the benevolence of something like Google, great though they currently are; however much they may be doing for us now, they are, at the bottom, a money-making enterprise. If conditions become less than congenial to the making of that money I fully expect them to change their tune entirely. We've already seen them acquiesece to demands from foreign governments, and it's unsettling to admit that we also really have no idea what their whole "deal" actually is. Anyway, very interesting stuff. And that picture is just the tops. Also, just so you know (and on the off chance you're inclined to participate), <a href="http://nickmilne.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/tagged-by-thunder/" rel="nofollow">you've been tagged</a>. This is one of my favourite posts ever, Rob. Very well done indeed!

I should add (though you likely know this already) that the issue of “bandwith hogs” is both highly exaggerated and already being cited by precisely the same sort of groups you mention. The creation of a Tiered Internet, of sorts, seems almost inevitable at this point unless certain free enterprisers (or whatever we might call them) are able to beat the system by developing superior soft- and hardware to enable an open sort of world.

The Internet we have right now is by no means ideal, but compared to some of the things that the major companies are proposing it’s sort of a paradise. I can see a future in which people give up on the thing entirely rather than put up with the restrictions placed upon them. You’re right to be wary of relying on the benevolence of something like Google, great though they currently are; however much they may be doing for us now, they are, at the bottom, a money-making enterprise. If conditions become less than congenial to the making of that money I fully expect them to change their tune entirely. We’ve already seen them acquiesece to demands from foreign governments, and it’s unsettling to admit that we also really have no idea what their whole “deal” actually is.

Anyway, very interesting stuff. And that picture is just the tops.

Also, just so you know (and on the off chance you’re inclined to participate), you’ve been tagged.

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