01 JAN 2010 by ideonexus
We Delude Ourselves with Metaphors About the Internet
We are beholden to countless Internet fantasies: It's quicker than the speed fo ligth; it appears and dissolves at whim; it's guarded by big strapping men friendly to our own interests and hostile to the interests of others; it's magical, evanescent, as portable as our own bodies and imaginations; it looks like a swirling hypercoller tie-dyed video game. These are, of course, also common fantasies about capitalism. But the ultimate fantasy of being online, echoed in much writing about the Int...An excellent essay on the numerous metaphors we use to describe the Internet, how commercials make it seem like a fun, happy place, full of friends, when in reality it isolates us. Movies portray it as an exciting, dynamic place, while in reality we spend hours sitting still, in non-ergonomically sound positions... the model of solitude and boredom.