Or Net Oldspeak?

Regarding the post below, Richard Bennett has a robust reply.

Comments

[Jeff]

Yes - the net is only a tool. This is the reality of it.

Once the net was opened to the public it really mimicked variations on the "ideal" concept of absolute freedom. Of course the technology itself was limiting -but anything the technology allowed you to do - you COULD do.

Let's not rip this out of it's proper context however. In a world where the flagship for freedom, liberty and captialism is an enormous compulsory financed institution of collusion between state and business - it's tempting to see the early "free" net as the last - if ONLY - vestage of ideals as yet unrealized in the "real" world.

[Radley Balko]

Richard Bennett is about to take on Larry Lessig?

Intellectually, isn't that a little like Ralph Wiggum flicking spitballs at Tony Soprano?

[Tim]

ves?tige n. 1. A visible trace, evidence, or sign of something that once existed but exists or appears no more.

Jeff, you say, "it's tempting to see the early "free" net as the last - if ONLY - vestage of ideals as yet unrealized in the "real" world."

How can you have "a vestige of ideals as yet unrealized?" A vestige (the past) of unrealized ideals (the future) is an oxymoron.

Furthermore, if you mean to say that the Net was the ONLY means for realizing certain ideals, then you are overlooking something that is much more powerful that the Net. Namely, the human mind.

[Susan]

Thanks for turning me on to the Omphalos blog, Matt. I wasn't aware of it's existence. I especially like the way it is subdivided by topic (Technology, Culture, Politics, Media, Jokes, Pictures, etc.) Wish H&R's web designer would do something like that.