Blog assignment #1: Cyberspace

I have to admit, I had to read, and re-read the 10 definition intro to Michael Benedickt's "Cyberspace: First Steps."  As to which one resonated with my preconceived notions of "cyberspace"...well, let's just say that given I'm not the most technical or computer driven individual, my preconceived notions didn't really amount to much. I'm willing to bet that the very first time I heard the word "cyberspace", I probably had visions of the speckled, inky vastness of space.  It's fair to say that my preconceived notions of cyberspace are closely related to the internet.  Both words imply an enigmatic vastness that I don't explore as extensively as I could or should.  Not because I don't want to, but there always seems to be so many other things to do.  

But with 10 neatly laid definitions put before me, I'd have to say that I was most drawn to not one, but two of the definitions:

"Cyberspace: A new universe, a parallel universe created and sustained by the world's computers and communication lines.  A world in which the global traffic of knowledge, secrets, measurements, indicators, entertainments, and alter-human agency takes on form: sights, sounds, presences never seen on the surface of the earth blossoming in a vast electronic night."

"Cyberspace: Through its myriad, unblinking video eyes, distance places and faces, real and unreal, actual or long gone, can be summoned to presence.  From vast databases that constitute the culture's deposited wealth, every document is available, every recording is playable, and every picture is viewable.  Around every participant, this: a laboratory, an instrumented bridge; taking no space, a home presiding over a world...and a dog under every table."

The first definition seemed to wax poetic.  Like Star Trek "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life...to boldly go where no man has gone before"; a wealth of information and of unseen peoples and places all encompassed in the "electronic night."  The second definition felt like a continuation of the the first, touching again on an electronic vastness of information infiltrating diverse spaces where we work or kick up our feet and scratch the dog's head.  By choosing to major in DTC I've willingly thrown myself into the hypermediated vastness of technology. With each class I take, I wade deeper and deeper into making all those preconceived notions of computers and technology into something more realized; in terms I'm comfortable with. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of information/sounds/images/programs/links out there.  It's almost too expansive.  Thankfully, each class I take builds upon the last and I feel like I'm gently being led into the knowledge of cyberspace. It isn't sink or swim.  It's like floating, weightless and almost faceless, from the privacy of my home while sipping my morning coffee.