ESSAY 6

I live in the matrix, I am vulnerable to the network life. “There is a wired telecommunications network that began with the telegraph, evolved into an analog telephone network, and is now transforming into a multifunctional digital system. And there are multiple forms of wireless networking – particularly broadcast radio and television, microwave, cell phone, pager, and 802.11. Horizontal network links make use of terrestrial, subsurface, and aerial real estate, while vertical links run through the service cores and chases of buildings” (Me++ 170) William J. Mitchell is arguing that mankind has been a slave race to the networking criteria since the beginning of technology.
Since the beginning of time we have been networked, connected to one and other , Starting with communication and working its way to the present. Everywhere we go we are connected, We are connected to one and other in everything we do, our everyday lives, everywhere we turn. The expectations of each man and woman being connected to each other is inevitable, you must be connected in order to survive. Having a cell phone is no longer a rarity but a expectation. Being connected to the internet twenty four hours a day seven days a week is a must. “You are automatically looked down on when you reach into your pocket and take out a flip up phone” I was told recently while taking out my flip up phone on a job interview. The reason behind This is because we have become so connected and reliant on outside sources that the everyday business man expects you to have every resource possible in your arsenal, and if you don’t the next person will and will be better then you. Knowledge is not what you know these days but how quickly you can figure something out. You no longer have to walk outside your house to the library to do research. Today all you have to do is reach into your pocket, take out your cell phone and search for the answer on Wikipedia. The internet is the world of knowledge at your fingertips. A extension to your brain which feeds you knowledge whenever you feel the desire. A connection to everything and everyone.
William J. Mitchell states “Traditionally, there was safety in numbers and in surrounding walls. Now urban security and resilience are grounded in patterns of connectivity.” What William J. Mitchell is explaining is that, it used to be that if you surrounded yourself with a bigger group or if you were in the four walls of your own home you were automatically safe. That is not the case anymore. Through technology man has built weapons that have the capabilities to destroy the entire world. Connectivity has allowed us to be able to learn what the person next to us already knows and right away come up with the next best thing. We are never secure or safe. The connectivity to everything and everyone surrounding us has us trapped and the only thing we can do is join the network or attempt to survive without the network. The everyday person has become reliant on the connection of the networks in every way possible. So what would happen if the networks shutdown?
In 2006 there was a MTA strike where all bus drivers, train conductors wanted to higher salaries, so they decided it was in there best interest to abandon the jobs until they got what they felt they deserved. The regular everyday newyorker depends on transportation to get them to and from work, school etc. So when the network shutdown no one new what to do. Schools were closed, businesses were shut down and the city that never sleeps was very quiet for the first time. This is a example of how the everyday individual has grown so accustom to the network life, it is scary to know if one minor network shuts down we all will shut down with it.
We are all slaves to the network life whether we choose to or not. Civilization is dependent on everybody else and no matter how bad you want to sugar coat it I depend on you and you depend on me. We as networking citizens are vulnerable, we are vulnerable to our everyday lives, The Networking life.