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Reflexive Internet? The British experience 139kinds of example are specific to British research on the Internet. Yet theycapture a skepticism with regard to pronouncements about the Internet whichinforms and drives the research.To the extent that they will endure as a distinctive feature of the Britishexperience of Internet technologies, counter-intuition and analytic skepticismare likely to have important implications. We are often told that a “natural” andrecurrent trajectory of all new technology is initial hype followed by disappointment(the dot-com crash) and then the gradual accommodation andabsorption of the new technology into society and the economy. But could itbe that in the future the British will exhibit a more sophisticated response tothe onset of new technologies? Could the emerging tendency toward skepticismabout the Internet lead to a more considered and less overblown debateabout the prospects and pitfalls of the next network society?In Britain in the 1990s, much public discussion about new electronic technologiestook place as part of a series of (often government-sponsored) meetingsand events organized around the idea of discussing likely futuredevelopments in technology. Some of this was the direct consequence of theUK government Technology Foresight (later renamed simply Foresight) initiativesestablished to develop strategies for exploiting future new technologiesas they came on stream. These events brought together key technology developers,business interests, representatives of government, and academics. 6Often they centered on presentations and discussion of likely “future scenarios.”They predominantly featured the expression of speculative views aboutthe kinds of new technologies that might come on the scene in the next 10, 15,or 20 years. The presentations typically comprised descriptions, usuallyoffered by representatives of supply-side telecommunications companies, ofelectronic “gizmos,” such devices as intelligent remote domestic monitors (itwould be possible remotely to determine whether one had left the fridge open,or the oven on, or one could start warming the stove in advance of arrivinghome) or systems for expense claims (it would be possible to submit one’sexpense claims via satellite link while driving home from the airport).Overwhelmingly, one was struck by the ethnocentricity (the target usersseemed always to be middle-class, white, business men) and lack of imaginationembodied in these suggestions: key applications to meet the pressingneeds of twenty-first century British society these were not!However, on one memorable occasion, Richard Sykes, a former industrialist,made a quite different kind of presentation. The key characteristic of theBritish network society of 2015, he predicted, was one where the major andmost striking change would be the attitude of the population at large to newtechnologies. They would by that time be entirely unimpressed by theoverblown cyberbole associated with new technologies. They would resist themad rush to invest (literally and metaphorically) in the views propagated by

140 Steve Woolgarthe collusion of government, supply-side industries, and the media. Instead,they would be ready and equipped with an army of analytic tools and perspectives,poised to undertake a cool and considered appraisal of the claims beingpresented to them.How would this state of affairs come about? Through widespread educationin the social dimensions of new technologies! By 2015, we would have implementedprograms of learning and understanding throughout our schools,universities, and beyond such that any commentator failing to deploy a criticalanalytic skepticism would simply not be taken seriously. 7This vision nicely counterpoises the more familiar visions of societies radicallytransformed by new technology. It is significant for our purpose becauseit embodies what I suggest are some unique features of a growing Britishsensibility to new technologies. The specific feature of the British networksociety is that it reflects the inclination toward counter-intuition and analyticskepticism on the part of a growing number of its observers and analysts.NOTES1. Against the universalizing tendencies of much scholarship on the Internet – those that emphasizethe common global (and globalizing) features of the new communication technologies –this chapter queries the extent to which we can understand uniquely local experiences in termsof national characteristics.2. Three UK-based researchers obtained positions in overseas universities during the lifetime ofthe program.3. Shove and Rip (2000) use the figure of the unicorn to describe the mythical attributes andproperties accorded by research councils and others to the role of “the user.”4. Elsewhere (Woolgar and Cooper, 1999), it is argued that there are advantages to the positionof ambivalence as an alternative to the reasonable middle ground that is appealed to here.5. A neologism borrowed (with slightly adapted spelling) from Imken (1999: 102): “It is easy tomake long-term predictions and spew cyperbole [sic] that has no relation to reality, whethervirtual or actual.” In the current chapter “cyberbole” denotes the exaggerated depiction(hyperbole) of the capacities of cyber-technologies.6. They rather less frequently included many “user” or “consumer” interests.7. It is important to emphasize that analytic skepticism is not the same as cynicism. The envisagedattitude to new technologies is one of critical appraisal, not outright rejection.REFERENCESAgar, J., Green, S., and Harvey, P. (2002) “Cotton to Computers: From Industrial toInformation Revolutions,” in S. Woolgar (ed.), Virtual Society? Technology,Cyberbole, Reality, pp. 264–85. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Bakardjieva, M. (2003) “Dimensions of Empowerment: Criss-crossing the Politicaland the Mundane,” paper presented to the iCS/OII conference, Oxford, September17–20.Brown, S. D. and Lightfoot, G. (2002) “Presence, Absence and Accountability: E-mail

140 Steve Woolgarthe collusion of government, supply-side industries, and the media. Instead,they would be ready and equipped with an army of analytic tools and perspectives,poised to undertake a cool and considered appraisal of the claims beingpresented to them.How would this state of affairs come about? Through widespread educationin the social dimensions of new technologies! By 2015, we would have implementedprograms of learning and understanding throughout our schools,universities, and beyond such that any commentator failing to deploy a criticalanalytic skepticism would simply not be taken seriously. 7This vision nicely counterpoises the more familiar visions of societies radicallytransformed by new technology. It is significant for our purpose becauseit embodies what I sug<strong>ge</strong>st are some unique features of a growing Britishsensibility to new technologies. The specific feature of the British networksociety is that it reflects the inclination toward counter-intuition and analyticskepticism on the part of a growing number of its observers and analysts.NOTES1. Against the universalizing tendencies of much scholarship on the Internet – those that emphasizethe common global (and globalizing) features of the new communication technologies –this chapter queries the extent to which we can understand uniquely local experiences in termsof national characteristics.2. Three UK-based researchers obtained positions in overseas universities during the lifetime ofthe program.3. Shove and Rip (2000) use the figure of the unicorn to describe the mythical attributes andproperties accorded by research councils and others to the role of “the user.”4. Elsewhere (Woolgar and Cooper, 1999), it is argued that there are advanta<strong>ge</strong>s to the positionof ambivalence as an alternative to the reasonable middle ground that is appealed to here.5. A neologism borrowed (with slightly adapted spelling) from Imken (1999: 102): “It is easy tomake long-term predictions and spew cyperbole [sic] that has no relation to reality, whethervirtual or actual.” In the current chapter “cyberbole” denotes the exag<strong>ge</strong>rated depiction(hyperbole) of the capacities of cyber-technologies.6. They rather less frequently included many “user” or “consumer” interests.7. It is important to emphasize that analytic skepticism is not the same as cynicism. The envisa<strong>ge</strong>dattitude to new technologies is one of critical appraisal, not outright rejection.REFERENCESAgar, J., Green, S., and Harvey, P. (2002) “Cotton to Computers: From Industrial toInformation Revolutions,” in S. Woolgar (ed.), Virtual Society? Technology,Cyberbole, Reality, pp. 264–85. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Bakardjieva, M. (2003) “Dimensions of Empowerment: Criss-crossing the Politicaland the Mundane,” paper presented to the iCS/OII conference, Oxford, September17–20.Brown, S. D. and Lightfoot, G. (2002) “Presence, Absence and Accountability: E-mail

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