Before + Now = Next!
Before
My first modem was a 760 baud terminal with a needle burning paper by which I hooked to the university main frame -- from home!!!
Sounds like science fiction?
Twenty plus years ago (circa 1979) I was working with a group of international researchers at the Université de Montréal as an editorial assistant. About 35 such groups, composed of mathematicians and physicists, existed at the time, and, once a year, abstracts were swapped. Unfortunately most teams usually turned out to have worked on a slightly different angle of the same five or six problems. The growth of these scientific disciplines was slow, impaired by political and geographical distances, and the costs of maintenance were astronomic. We were at the height of the Cold War, and the frontiers were sealed. Little did I know how this experience was going to change and shape my future.
As primitive as our network was, using it increased the number of problems solved, which was exhilarating -- giving birth to the modern era of technology as we know it today. It proved without a shadow of a doubt that temporal, geographical, political, cultural and even personal barriers could be overcome via a common communication tool. This showed an unprecedented and untapped possibility: Tackling problems collectively in a community of contributors generated unforeseen results! Wow!
This yielded my first conclusion: The "putting in common" of problems
produces exponential results.
Today
Today, we're still very much in emergent stages -- beholding tremendous challenges and yet discovering a multitude of opportunities, of which independent content stands as the most efficient mechanism for the exchange of information and knowledge.
The power of human intelligence -- "Brainware" -- makes the Net greater than the sum of its parts. It's what differentiates the Net from all its components -- hardware, software, telecoms, and so on. Brainware is the breakthrough through which the Net has generated exponential results within a remarkably short period of time.
We are learning to share with other disciplines that have been established for millenia (such as architecture) or centuries (print). And advertising has been established for close to 200 years, starting with newspapers and later expanding to include magazines, radio, and television.
Now granted we live in a space where the learning curve and information life cycle is at least 10 times faster than in the traditional arena. We are already able to capitalize on this incredible addition to our initial knowledge, even though this new medium is only 6.5 years old!
I see the web as a petri dish: We're constantly splitting cells and multiplying; and we know not yet what will become of this new "culture" we are growing. ... What we can agree to is that not one single person will ever create it, or define it, alone -- there is too much to do and learn; the web is only just out of kindergarden. I guess that's why we're all here, and if we extend this parallel a bit longer: Remember what you did in kindergarden? Certainly not advanced mathematics. You were experimenting, playing with stuff and learning basic social skills -- all of which was meant as an introduction to the higher stuff you would need to learn during your school education.
We need to create the next step which is not yet here. Community is the networked brainware around the world. The term "community" comes from a Greek root that refers to a legal activity that took place in ancient Greece, the object of which was to discuss topics that were vital to a village or city but where everyone could ask and voice their questions and suggestions. (You can read a short intro on this here).
So the web is a worldwide community that uses technology to meet, offer feedback and supply content and on-the-fly education and problem solving. I like to consider a site a virtual city, with its own dwellers, who can also inhabit many other cities. Were we to track this, we would find that there is a pattern of interests, concerns and desires that is the invisible common link between these users. The word "communication" also stems from the word community. So it's fair enough to say that a community is a communicating group.
Why? Nobody knows, or does, it all. I firmly believe that a community has
the power to overcome any weakness if it remembers that end results are
foremost in importance. Individually, we can learn and improve and grow
to become our best selves, and yet find forgiveness and support through
our human mistakes and times of weakness.
Next?
I think that the Net is the greatest tool ever awarded humanity. And it is still emerging: It is a new medium of communication that needs to be promoted as such. It is a global platform for expression and collaboration. Its chaotic state and recent dot-com failures evidence a dire need for working models -- such as the collaborative model. Publishing your individidual and independent thoughts, designs and scenarios contributes directly to its enrichment and growth.
Focus on the future! Bring forth a vision, and we will all become less distracted, and more tolerant of humanity! We are each driving, and being driven, towards a goal.
I believe that discipline, dedication, determination, respect and effort are what the web is made of. Its members are all leaders, through their words, deeds and efforts, through their contributions and their ideas, which help fuel the group dynamic -- the sum of which should become the realization of the vision.
Stay tuned to see what it will be!
