Info Peripeteia



This is Morgan Ame's and Tricia Wang's research blog documenting challenges to and support of the rhetoric of neo-informationalism. Peripeteia is a sudden reversal dependent on intellect and logic.


working definition of neo-informationalism: the belief that information should function like currency in free-market capitalism—borderless, free from regulation, and mobile. The logic of neo-info rests on an ethical framework that is tied to we call “information determinism,” the belief that free and open access to information can create real social change.


Keywords: neo-informationalism, information determinism, open access, open source, F/OSS, hackers, data, history, political, global, digital, ideology, rhetoric, semiotic, freedom of information

The telegraph as the Victorian internet - The first time space & tie was compressed acoording to Tom Standage

“The development of the telegraph led to a compression of time and space. Tom Standage believes that prior to the telegraph the speed at which information reached its audience was completely dependent on the transport used to disperse that information. The development of the telegraph freed the transmission of information from the time constraints of transport and eliminated geographic borders. (Standage:1998, p. 102) With the immediate flow of communication came speculation concerning the possible effects of instantaneous communication on society. These speculations included the idea that the telegraph would “cut out the middle man” and lead to the downfall and eventual extinction of the printed press. (Standage:1998, p. 149) This is because newspapers at this time could only disperse information as quickly as the transport that carried them. However, this speculation was proven incorrect with newspaper and telegraph companies establishing an alliance that allowed reporters to use the telegraph to instantly transport breaking stories back to the office. (Standage:1998, p. 150) This gave newspapers the advantage of a far greater reach of information and readership. (Standage:1998, p. 150)”

pulled from Wikipedia entry on Tom Standage

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