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The Digital |
William Mitchell avoids describes
some of the effects of the digital revolution may have on the way we construct
our lives. He approaches the field from a geographers perspective and notes
how the industrial revolution altered the forces which shaped how people chose
to live together. Cities were no long surrounding a common resource, most notably
a well, and the societies lost a degree of their common bonds. The pipes that
bring information, like the pipes that brought water to a common, public area,
have the ability to shape the layout of cities, and thus the communities that
compose cities. On a macro level, Mitchell observes that the urban growth in
northern India appears to be guided by satellite data downlinks provide local
high bandwidth access.
On a more local community level, the source of information can be seen as a
community resource, much like a village well. The well served not only to provide
a specific resource, but an informal meeting place around which informal relationships
could be forged between fellow users. Similarly, community members could come
to a certain point, perhaps a CTC, to use IT resources,
but like users of a common well, they can interact on other levels to develop
other bonds, and create social capital. A well also
helps define a community, one that is dependent on the well for a resource.
This community then has an incentive for collective action to protect this resource,
and this identity can expand to pave the way for other community-building behaviors.
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Allan Friedman
January, 2002