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David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

bbc.co.uk

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Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#11

Post by jccc »

pygy_ wrote: post #6

Bowie: I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the Internet is going to do to society—both good and bad—is unimaginable. I think we're on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying. Interviewer: It's just a tool, though, isn't it? Bowie: No, it's not... no, it's an alien life form [laughs]. It's just arrived from Mars. 1998?

I very much doubt that he thought the Internet was invented by Gore in 1997. Expand your time scale to the level of the point he's making, and yes it did just arrive.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#12

Post by pygy_ »

jccc wrote: post #11
pygy_ wrote: post #6

Bowie: I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the Internet is going to do to society—both good and bad—is unimaginable. I think we're on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying. Interviewer: It's just a tool, though, isn't it? Bowie: No, it's not... no, it's an alien life form [laughs]. It's just arrived from Mars. 1998?

I very much doubt that he thought the Internet was invented by Gore in 1997. Expand your time scale to the level of the point he's making, and yes it did just arrive.

I was not faulting him for possibly not knowing the full history of the internet.

Pre-1997, the internet and the web were both very confidential. It started to become a thing in the public mind around that time, and seeing it, in 2000 (apparently the proper date of the interview) as an alien life form is very insightful.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#13

Post by nothis »

xbryanx wrote: post #4

It's scary to think about how ephemeral some of these early internet experiments are. Wayback Machine is great for static sites, but I'm amazed that enough of this interactive media/software was captured to even report on. I hope that the Bowie camp has some smart archivists who will preserve this unique material.

Right? It's interesting to see data "rust", if you will, over time just like a physical thing. How looking at stuff in the Wayback Machine, some decorative images might not load, some link might lead nowhere and in a way, it's no different from a book's pages falling apart.

There's so much data today, everything is stored and categorized, but I still believe that, say, 20 years from now, a lot will be lost nevertheless. No matter how easy it is to store stuff today.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#14

Post by soneil »

soneca wrote: post #3
V-2 wrote: post #2

"For a monthly fee, members got an @davidbowie.com-ending email address" Isn't it the same thing Trump gets ridiculed for? ;)

No, it isn't the same thing, and you took it out of context to make it seem it is: "BowieNet also operated as a full internet service provider (ISP) in the US and UK, competing with AOL, Claranet and others. For a monthly fee, members got an @davidbowie.com-ending email address and exclusive access to audio recordings, music videos and chat rooms, which the singer participated in himself."

I found these, which give a better idea what the service actually promised:

BowieNet VPN Account: For $19.95/month subscribers can obtain full Internet Service Access via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) arrangement with Concentric Networks. Instead of dialing into AOL or your local ISP, you dial a Concentric Networks number and gain full Internet access (web browsing, email, chat, news, FTP) on the back of Concentric's worldwide network. $19.95/month accounts also get an exclusive BowieNet CD-ROM which includes all the software necessary to get you on the Internet together with two video tracks and a newly recorded audio track called Fun.

Premium Content: For $5.95/month subscribers who want to retain their current Internet provider can sign up to obtain a username and password to access the premium content of BowieNet. That includes everything on the web as in the BowieNet VPN account, but doesn't include the CD-ROM with the exclusive tracks.

From a contemporary review: http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Othermedia/BowieNet/review.ht...

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#15

Post by asveikau »

pygy_ wrote: post #12
jccc wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much doubt that he thought the Internet was invented by Gore in 1997. Expand your time scale to the level of the point he's making, and yes it did just arrive.

I was not faulting him for possibly not knowing the full history of the internet. Pre-1997, the internet and the web were both very confidential. It started to become a thing in the public mind around that time, and seeing it, in 2000 (apparently the proper date of the interview) as an alien life form is very insightful.

I don't disagree that characterizing it as an "alien" would not have been out of place at the time.

However, it was not "confidential" in 1996. That is simply a ridiculous statement.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#16

Post by Zikes »

castell wrote: post #5

Omikron (1999) was a great game. It was one of the first open world games with real 3D graphics. You could ride a taxi around the city, enter buildings, etc. Of course GTA3 (2001) took it to the next level, but in 1999 GTA still was 2D: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_2 . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omikron:_The_Nomad_Soul

$10 DRM Free on GOG: http://www.gog.com/game/omikron_the_nomad_soul

$10 on Steam as well: http://store.steampowered.com/app/243000/

One of my favorite games, however I recommend playing it on Dreamcast if that's an option, as the PC controls are a little painful to work with.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#17

Post by V-2 »

soneca wrote: post #3
V-2 wrote: post #2

"For a monthly fee, members got an @davidbowie.com-ending email address" Isn't it the same thing Trump gets ridiculed for? ;)

No, it isn't the same thing, and you took it out of context to make it seem it is: "BowieNet also operated as a full internet service provider (ISP) in the US and UK, competing with AOL, Claranet and others. For a monthly fee, members got an @davidbowie.com-ending email address and exclusive access to audio recordings, music videos and chat rooms, which the singer participated in himself."

How does this change anything? I just meant the manner of using one's name for businesses, services etc.

Also note the mysterious ";)" at the end of my comment. It indicates I wasn't being serious

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#18

Post by bshimmin »

I don't remember BowieNet at all, and I was definitely cheerfully using dialup in the UK, with Demon Internet, in the late nineties ('97 onwards I'd say). Was it really a big deal? I can't find out much information about it other than a bunch of news sites this week all regurgitating variants of the same material.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#19

Post by dirtyaura »

The interview is gold. (I shared it earlier but it didn't garner enough attention https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10883028)

He perfectly summarized the relationship between the art and the internet: "That gray space in the middle (between the artist and the audience) is what the 21st century is about"

Also it is fascinating how certain he was that new mediums will emerge and how different they will be from what we knew back then. When we were pioneering current style of social media with Jaiku back in 2006, many smart people failed to understood how powerful social broadcast media could be. But Bowie was already in 2000 understanding the power of it.

Re: David Bowie, an Internet pioneer

#20

Post by frandroid »

nothis wrote: post #13
xbryanx wrote: post #4

It's scary to think about how ephemeral some of these early internet experiments are. Wayback Machine is great for static sites, but I'm amazed that enough of this interactive media/software was captured to even report on. I hope that the Bowie camp has some smart archivists who will preserve this unique material.

Right? It's interesting to see data "rust", if you will, over time just like a physical thing. How looking at stuff in the Wayback Machine, some decorative images might not load, some link might lead nowhere and in a way, it's no different from a book's pages falling apart. There's so much data today, everything is stored and categorized, but I still believe that, say, 20 years from now, a lot will be lost neverthele…

Really, not only the data needs to be stored, but virtual machines needed to see the content need to be stored as well.
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