Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the Internet remained difficult to use and largely the preserve of the
military, universities, and industry. Its accessibility was increased by
the modem, which was originally developed in the '
s. This device
is so called because it
mod
ulates and
dem
odulates between digital
and analogue data, thus allowing personal computers to communi-
cate at high speed over phone lines. In the '
60
s various networks
and systems had developed that widened access and participation,
such as Bulletin Board Services that allowed PC users to communi-
cate widely on the Internet. Nevertheless the complexity of using
such facilities largely prevented the Internet becoming widely used.
Despite these difficulties, the Internet seemed to make practically
possible and, at the same time, to embody metaphorically many of
the ideas that had been circulating in and around San Francisco for
some time. It encompassed the theories of the Jesuit priest and
palaeontologist Teilhard de Chardin about the 'noosphere', a com-
municative equivalent to the atmosphere, the increasing complexity
of which would lead to a kind of global consciousness. It confirmed
the ideas of Marshall McLuhan, such as that of the global village
and the capacity of technology to expand human potential, as well
as having the scope to realize utopian visions such as H. G. Wells's
'The World Brain'. Naturally those at the Whole Earth were not
going to miss out on such a phenomenon. In
80
they started the
WELL or 'Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link'. This was a BBS or bulletin
board service that allowed people to communicate in a variety of
ways online, mainly in the form of conferences in which ideas on
topics could be shared, as well as e-mail, and instant communica-
tion.
42
(It is indicative of the burgeoning relation between the
counter-culture and digital technology that the WELL's existence was
sustained through the patronage of 'deadheads', fanatical followers
of the seminal psychedelic rock group The Grateful Dead.) Though
the WELL was a remarkable success, its use was limited mostly to
residents in the Bay Area and those who felt comfortable with using
the computer at a fairly sophisticated level. This last was true for
1985
