The spoiling of the virtual frontier
Summary Description Whatever happened to the
Internet of 1994, ponders Simon Vandore.
Author
Publication
Roullas Top10 Simon Vandore
Newswire
No
Editorial InformationArticle Location
http://www.newswire.com.au/0005/ov02.htm
Article Topic Vandore
Story Order
Story Group 000507
Post Date 02/05/2000 08:50 AM Status Posted Entered by Simon
Vandore on 01/05/2000 04:56 PM
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Content
Introduction
They say Daniel Boone had three ears: a left ear, a right ear,
and a wild frontier. It's an old joke, but I'm sure the wild
frontier was part of who he was.
Body
A certain type of person is drawn to a frontier, like Kevin
Costner's character John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves: "I've
always wanted to see the frontier, before it's gone". Some
people just like to hang out on the edge of the known.
There are few geographical frontiers left, and Lonely Planet has
them all covered. Space, the oceans, and the human mind remain
frontlines of research and exploration, but we simply cannot go
far into those places without some serious science.
About two and a half years ago, I returned to Australia after two
years of overseas travel through about 23 countries, during which
I spent most time on a bicycle or in a tent and carried no high
technology except for a digital shortwave radio. I started that
trip without knowing if I'd ever return, and one of the five
cassettes I carried was John Barry's soundtrack to Dances With
Wolves. I threw myself into far-off lands, because I'm fascinated
by everything out there.
Before I travelled, I was drawn to the Internet for similar
reasons, from 1994 to 1996. It was a vast, unexplored medium and
I was fascinated by the possibilities and all the assembled
knowledge. I'd read William Gibson's complete works and toyed
with his cyberpunk notion of integrating oneself with the global
network. Sometimes I still think that way, because the Internet
that I now inhabit has gained graphics and three dimensions on
top of the endless ASCII text. We almost can become part of it.
Inevitably, much of my virtual frontier has been spoilt. I've
watched the billboards go up and seen drooling cowboys turn
everything into business opportunities. The underground techno
tribes of mid-1990s Sydney have been manufactured into
sydneytribe.com, and the venture capitalists now define cool.
Fortunately, cyberspace is expandable. We can all make virtual
places where there are no Coca-Cola cans or McDonalds wrappers,
and the Net is still a frontier of invention. But human beings
are not designed to sit down all day. Our bodies are not built to
use keyboards or look at screens, they are structured for effort.
Time on the virtual frontier is a debit on your real life. In
William Gibson's latest novel, All Tomorrow's Parties, the fully
jacked-in Colin Laney's body wastes away and he dies a physical
death.
I've spent too much time at keyboards lately, delving into the
politics of new online communities. It was fulfilling and
fascinating but . . . I need to get out more. Nothing virtual
will ever beat watching the sun rise over an extinct volcano on
the other side of the world, then freewheeling down into a
forgotten village on the other side of the mountain. Perhaps
someone is offering that experience online too, but it's
important to do more than just look out the window.
SOUNDING BOARD: Has virtual capitalism colonised the virtual
community? Have your say!
Vandore is an occasional Newswire column. You can contact
Simon Vandore at svandore@acptech.net.
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