An Internet Article Review

Robinson, Wendy. “Catching the Waves: Considering Cyberculture, Technoculture, and Electronic Consumption.” Critical Cyber-Culture Studies. Ed. David Silver and Adrienne Massanari. New York: New York University Press, 2006. 55-67.

In this article, Dr. Robinson brings about interesting questions regarding the past, present and future of cyber culture studies and how each point in time is connected by similarity and lineage. The internet cyber culture can be separated into three different categories: the first wave, the second wave, and the third wave. The first wave is considered to be the beginning of a public internet system. Without giving any real timeline, she mentions points in history which convey the idea that this took place in America between 1993 and 2003. The internet spiked and slowed alongside the dot com economic crash. Internet explorer was created. The Y2K bug effect happened, scaring the masses into costly upgrades. AOL rose and fell. The 2000 election happened along with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The second wave of cyber culture is comprised of three points. The second wave is a continuation of the techno culture of the 20th century. especially that which has been seen in the 80’s. Both the cyber culture and the techno culture have relied on gadgets and gizmos to propel the next wave of pop culture. The television is often mentioned as a parallel invention to the internet in a different generation. Comparisons can also be drawn between the infamous Walkman player culture of the 80’s to the hip iPod culture of the new millennium. If we reconsider the media theories brought forth by such classic authors as Marshall McLuhan and Raymond Williams, we might be able to further develop and refine these theories so that they may serve us in a more moern environment. The online buzz of the second wave has further shaped the way we conduct our day to day living, mobilizing us to partake physically in this cyber culture. Wireless hardware has allowed us to take our cyber lives with us without hindrance. We find ourselves buying gadgets and gizmos not just because of a new feature that has been added in a short month’s time, but because the item is more sleek and in a way more aesthetic. Our material and mobile lives are merging with the lives that we’ve traditionally conducted at a table in only one room of our house. Thirdly, electronic items are increasingly merging in use. People are now working on their computer while watching television. Cell phones are sending pictures to a laptop. The gadgets that we know and love are now communicating with each other like never before.

With the closing of the second wave and the beginning of the third, we are coming out of our “teenage” internet hype and into the reality of the adult hangover. With the virtual unknown possibility hype gone, maybe what we have to look forward to now is reconsidering past ideas of what the television is and how we may incorporate all of our virtual lives into another being. The third wave is on the horizon and still very young, but we have already seen a new mainstream philosophy of the all-in-one. Mobile phones are becoming personal computers within themselves. Televisions and computers are becoming one in the same machine. The new material location of digital focus is the living room. Modern gadgets are rarely seen without the integration of the telephone or the internet and the television is becoming the new, ”killer app.”

-- Joshua Winn