to all users (for the price of agreeing to the central network provider’s terms and conditions). This strategy was not picked up by many cities, as the city-provided wireless Internet access failed to take on a significant role in user connectivity (Mackenzie 2010). Because of network security and otherwise convenience, users preferred to secure their own network access, occupying public space with wireless signals protected with passwords. So what is the future of wireless Internet? On one hand we had the utopian dream of a “cyberrevolution”. In the spirit of Barlow’s Declaration of The Independence of the Cyberspace (1996) many thinkers still believe that mere accessibility will evoke different modes of social organization. For example, Bar and Galperin (2004) discuss the possibility for dynamic, peer-to-peer Wi-Fi networks to replace wired network infrastructures, as they are scalable and more easily distributed. Aware of the limitations put on by the existing legal environment (equipment power restrictions, frequency range for operation and restrictive agreements by current broadband providers) they advocate the extension of this decentralized infrastructure to another level. Because the infrastructure is built bottom-up and because technically, Wi-Fi clients can act as Wi-Fi access points, thus “all Wi-Fi devices can be programmed to detect other devices within their range and create ad-hoc connections” (Bar and Galperin, 2004), mesh networks could spontaneously emerge when enough Wi-Fi devices are present in an area. On the other hand, the competition between communication technologies does not lead to multiplicity and equal distribution, because “electronic intermediary services providers are populating the new markets and deploying strategies that are no less informed by monopolization strategies than in the past. “ (Mansell, 1999, 3). New technologies evolve within an existing institutional context that moulds them to established social and market practices (Bar and Galperin, 2004). Thus the centralized approach to wireless networking reflected in the UMTS service might well win over the distributed AP mesh structure. Because every single byte can be charged to each user, this model is much more interesting to commercial companies than building an overall Wi-Fi meshed network, which they would be well capable of too. On the other hand,
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UMTS providers would need to collaborate on a much more global level to make up for the comfort Wi-Fi technology provides to users outside of their countries of residence. Because Wi-Fi access points depend only on hardware compatibility, it would be necessary that UMTS connections provide the same service to the user independent from their current location (whether on a trip, holiday or at home). It is therefore most likely that both will continue to coexist for some time. to all users (for the price of agreeing to the central network provider’s terms and conditions). This strategy was not picked up by many cities, as the city-provided wireless Internet access failed to take on a significant role in user connectivity (Mackenzie 2010). Because of network security and otherwise convenience, users preferred to secure their own network access, occupying public space with wireless signals protected with passwords. Urban Computing and Locative Media Instead of a dark room with a screen, mouse and keyboard, we are more likely to be online in a café, scrolling down the touch screen of a smart phone. It is typical of a ‘neo-nomad’ to live the ‘Starbucks lifestyle’, relying on mobile technology while relocating around the world (Abbas, 2011). Problems of ‘neo-nomadism’ are many, as described in detail by Yasmine Abbas, but they are a group of users who were ‘liberated’ by mobile technology. Exactly this is the point of Net Locality: contrary to the general prejudice about technology’s alienation effect on the physical experience of the world (which is justified by the way we used to connect to the web in the 90s), new technologies are making us aware of locations, and making locations aware of us (Gordon and de Souza e Silva, 2011). Because “games provide a logic for user interaction” (Gordon and de Souza e Silva 2011), they have been widely used to simulate behaviours and situations. The Familiar Stranger (Paulos, e. &Goodman, 2002) and Umbrella.net (Moriwaki, K. & Brucker-Cohen, 2002) made use of Bluetooth connections between mobile phones, to discover the position of other players. Further on, Can You See Me Now (Blast Theory and Lab 2001) is an interesting example that combines
Quarterly
November 2012
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