In reply to: Re: the web is always there posted by jennifer terry on April 18, 1996 at 22:31:01:
there is of course a couple of people who think that the *snowcrash* model will soon apply. i can hardly believe that the metaverse is our future, that we will all be the victims of corporate magnates who keep on inflating as time goes. the decentralized model might not entirely work, but there is a chance that a battle of the titans results in their progressive loss of control over their empires which will then collapse. maybe it is wishful thinking, but i do not particularly want to subscribe to the all dark scenario, and perpetuate the position of beinmg a victim of corporate greed. the web should and has the capacity to serve as a tool of resistance, and that is what we should promote, maintain, and hopefully develop under a different approach than the existing all-corporate model. alternate means of economy have to be found. global village does not have to equate to global control. although i must admit that this whole global village bit is somehow a boring metaphor; and probably not the most efficient. i liked the name mosaic for the browser that preceded netscape. because we might have a chance to re-ascert the notion of exchange between different communities, as well as to participate in different ones. as a french person, for instance, i like to think that i can be in ny, live in american culture, and then go to the net and have this double identity. and that is only one criteria, of course.