Eric Kluitenberg on Mon, 21 Jul 1997 19:13:47 +0200 (MET DST) |
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<nettime> Frequently Asked Questions about Bandwidth |
WE WANT BANDWIDTH! A public research by De Waag - the Society for Old and New Media from Amsterdam @ Hybrid Workspace documenta X, Kassel 8 - 17 July 1997. FAQ Frequently Asked Questions about Bandwidth # What is Bandwidth? band. with n (ca. 1937) 1: a range within a band of wavelengths, frequencies, or energies; esp: a range of audio frequencies which is occupied by a modulated carrier wave, which is assigned to a service, or over which a device can operate 2: the data transfer rate of an electronic communications system (Webster Dictionary) BANDWIDTH IS THE CURRENCY OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY # What is the Currency of Bandwidth? bps = bits per second Kbps = 1024 * bps (kilobits per second) At the Hybrid Workspace 128 Kbps of connectivity is available. This equals the total bandwidth of the entire academic network of Romania, which is also 128 Kbps of connectivity. EQUAL ACCESS FOR ALL The Bandwidth applications are broadening the gap between the information rich and the information poor # What is an Internet node? A communications network transfers data from source to destination through a series of network nodes. Country: / Number of Nodes: / Inhabitants per Node: Netherlands / 270.521 / 57 Germany / 721.847 / 115 Japan / 734.406 / 170 Romania / 8205 / 2600 India / 3138 / 300.000 Cameroon nodes: 0 # What is a back bone? back. bone n (14c) 1: spinal column, spine 2: something that resembles a backbone: as a: a chief mountain ridge, range, or system b: the foundation or most substantial or sturdiest part of something c: the longest chain of atoms or groups of atoms in a usu. long molecule (as polymer or protein) 3: a firm and resolute character 4: spine 1c (Webster Dictionary) Internet network backbones are owned by the large telecom operators. There is a continuous process of the concentration of power. The largest Internet connectivity provider of the world, UUNet Technologies, owns most of the infrastructure of Europe: EUnet. National EUnet-subsidiaries like EUnet Germany have been bought in the last years by UUNET. UUNET is based in Virginia, USA, 40% of its stock capital is owned by Microsoft corporation. THE MORE CHANNELS THE LESS OWNERS # Why is Bandwidth important for all of us? In the information society the social debate and social communication has increasingly shifted from the physical public space to the electronic public space; the communication space of electronic media. To have Bandwidth means to be able to access information and put your own information inside this electronic space. This new public space can only truly be called 'public' if bandwidth is distributed equally, so that every voice can make itself be heard. WE DEMAND FROM NATIONAL, EUROPEAN, AND GLOBAL POLICY MAKERS THAT 10 % OF THE WORLD'S DIGITAL BANDWIDTH WILL BE RESERVED FOR THE PUBLIC SPHERE (Some examples: Public Libraries, cyber cafés, community networks such as the Digital City Amsterdam, or the Internationale Stadt Berlin, community services) # What are PUSH Media? PUSH MEDIA means that the Net turns into a hybrid of the existing Internet and other computer network structures and old and new forms of broadcast for mass audiences. PUSH media exploit the potential of digital networking to create much more diversified models of content distribution. The rise of PUSH MEDIA, however, threatens to marginalise existing low-bandwidth ('Flinstone Speed') infrastructure and low-bandwidth access to essential information and communication services. PUSH MEDIA WIDEN THE GAP BETWEEN INFORMATION RICH AND INFORMATION POOR EVEN MORE # Why PUSH Back? To PUSH Back means: Broadcast for all. Access to information and communication should be a fundamental democratic right. In the process of accelerating technological change and revolution the diversity of democratic voices is under threat and measures are called for to maintain them. There should be continual support for the access and production infrastructure of local producers and providers of content. We demand that the European Union will emphasise and develop more decidedly the social and cultural components of existing European Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programmes. DEMAND THE SAME BANDWIDTH FOR ALL # References on the Internet: Hybrid Workspace: http://www.documenta.de/workspace Society for Old and New Media: http://www.waag.org We Want Bandwidth!: http://www.waag.org/bandwidth Webster Bandwidth definition: http://www.nethotel.dk/ephos/en/thesauru/T892.htm Jargon Bandwidth definition: http://nmsmn.com/~cservin/jargon/b/bandwidth.html An atlas of Cyberspaces: http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/casa/martin/atlas/atlas.html Internet Domain Survey: http://www.nw.com/zone/WWW/top.html Current world map of the Matrix and the Internet: http://www3.mids.org/mapsale/world/index.html Romanian National Backbone network topology: http://www.rnc.ro/nb/nb.html UUnet backbone network map: http://www.uu.net/lang.en/network/ Boardwatch Magazine list of Internet Service Providers: http://www.boardwatch.com/isp/backbone.htm Cook report on evolving Internet Infrastructure: http://cookreport.com/evolving.html Telecommunications Map of the World Bandwidth Conservation Society: http://www.infohiway.com/way/faster/index.html The Bandwidth team @ the Hybrid Workspace documenta X - Kassel, 8 - 17 July 1997: The Society for Old and New media is based in Amsterdam and designs information for public spaces. Prototypes, applications, products and software are being developed - through the public research method - to offer people real possibilities to participate in the information society. The society hosts the Tactical Media network and the Next 5 Minutes conferences. The people of the Society for Old and New Media, Belissima & Hybrid Workspace: Yariv Alterfin, Birgitte Bèlanger, Jan van den Berg, Simone Berghuys, Michael van Eeden, Thomax Kaulmann, Eric Kluitenberg, Mieke Gerritzen, Ellen Pronk, Bastiaan Lips, Geert Lovink, Patrice Riemens, Pit Schulz, Thorsten Schilling, Martin Schitter, Mareen Stikker, Ace Suares, Nina Meilof. SOCIETY FOR OLD AND NEW MEDIA DE WAAG Nieuwmarkt 4, 1012 CR Amsterdam Tel: +31-20-557 9898 - Fax: +31-20-557 9880 Web sites: www.waag.org/bandwidth & www.icf.de/workspace e-mail: bandwidth@waag.org --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@icf.de and "info nettime" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@icf.de