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Web of Ideas: The Time of the Net

with David Weinberger

Many of our metaphors about the Internet treat it as a place, which is perfectly appropriate. But many - perhaps all? - Net phenomena have a temporal dimension which is not "merely" metaphorical. For example, weblogs are able to become proxy selves because they have permanent addresses, IM's distinguishing characteristic is that it's interruptive of the now, and discussions are presented as threaded to sort through overlapping chronologies. How else does time manifest itself on the Net? How is it different from real world time and our traditional conception of time as a series of atomic moments?
Past Event
Monday, February 28, 2005
Time
1:06 AM - 1:06 AM