R7 - Internet

The assigned Access Science article is a very concise and a rather informative concerning the basic concept of the Internet. I, probably as many others, was rather uninformed about the mechanic of the internet – as long as it works and I am connected, all is well in the world. This article mentioned some things I already knew, clarified some other things, as well as introduces to some new concepts. For example, I had no idea that DSL connection was faster than Cable. Based on the media coverage and internet service provider advertisements, I was under a misconception that a cable internet is the ultimate fastest.
While it was interesting to read about the mechanics and a short history f the internet, I personally am very interested in slightly different topics, relating to internet and instantaneous information availability in general, which are described the two articles I selected:

• The Way 4WARD to the Creation of a Future Internet


• The millennial invasion: are you ready?

The first articles I chose talks about the future structure of the internet, because the current architecture cannot support (properly) today’s information transfer demands, and soon will be crippled in its entirety. The author’s state, that current internet structure was designed for minimal traffic, for small file and message transfers, and its demand was simply underestimated. This team of researchers introduces a few options for new framefork of the internet, and calls it the 4WARD project. The second article does not talk about the internet specifically, but it discusses current people generation – us (those born since the 1980’s) – and the authors call us the Millennial Generation. It is a rather interesting article, and in some cases author’s views about us are very sadly true. The reason I chose this article, is because in this day and age, primarily due to the internet and instantaneous information access (virtually unlimited information), young generations are overly informed and technologically advanced. I am very curious how this affect us and those who came before us, because we will be their co-workers soon. This article is interesting, because it expresses a multitude of conflicting emotions at the same time: pride, excitements, but also strong concern and fear. At the beginning of the article we are called the next “great generation” and by the end of it there is concern because of our need for instant gratification, continuous stimulus, and the fact that we question everything. It is a very interesting article describing one aspect of the social outcome of the internet.