Hyperlinked Organization  Title

For those who need to understand how the Web is transforming the way businesses work, yada yada yada

 

Issue: January 23, 1999  
Author/Editor: David Weinberger  
Central Meme: Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy  
Home page: http://www.hyperorg.com  
Contact information: Click here

 

Special Issue!
Publisher's Overstock!

We were completing our yearly inventory here at JOHO (it's a great chance to give college kids a way to earn a little extra cash) when we discovered that we are way overstocked on articles and snide remarks.

So, as always, we're passing the savings on to you with this special issue! No charge, and don't worry, it won't shorten your subscription.

Plus, it's almost a readable length. What a concept.

 

Down with Reality

The person staffing the ticket desk asks me: "Do you have an electronic ticket or a real ticket?" Two thousand years of philosophy, and this is what it comes down to.

It's perfectly clear at one level what she meant. A real ticket is made of paper. An electronic ticket is a just notation in a computer that I paid for a seat.

But why think of the paper ticket as "Real"? Why not think of the e-ticket as real?

"Reality" is a value judgment. We think real things are somehow safer than electronic, virtual things. Real things are originals while electronic things are just representations. Real things are longer lasting. Real things don't require some other technology to exist.

All thoughtful points, to which I reply: Oh, yeah?

Let's take those points one by one.

Real things are more secure, safer? This just proves our culture's blind prejudice in favor of reality. Not only can paper tickets be forged, but -- more to the point -- they can be lost, shredded, or dropped into the folder that you threw out when you cleaned out your briefcase (not that that's ever happened to me). You know, paper money is real, but it's safer in the bank where it's stored as electronic information.

Next, we think of real things as the originals. Excuse me? Your paper airline ticket is nothing but a representation of electronic information which is really the original. If you have to choose between losing your ticket or having all record of your reservation wiped out, lose the ticket.

Real things last longer? Electronic records don't get yellowed and crumpled. The ink doesn't smear, the corners don't get dog-eared, and you can't leave them in the pocket of the pants you're about to wash.

Next, real things are independent of sustaining technology? Well, sort of. It's true the paper airline ticket doesn't require a computer for its existence. If the airline's computers go down, the paper tickets don't vanish. .... Or do they? Let's say the computers crash beyond recovery (on or about Jan. 1, 2000, to pick a date totally at random). You still have the piece of cardboard with your flight information, but it's no longer a ticket because the information it represents has gone to meet its Maker. Likewise, if the electronic banking and financial infrastructure totally vanishes in a puff of millennial smoke, your dollar bills won't be dollar bills any more, although they'll come in handy once the looters have squeezed all the Charmin'.

So, now tell me which is more real, the piece of paper or the information it represents? And explain why we insist on talking about what's real in reverent, hushed tones while we relegate the electronic, virtual world to the land of dreams and wishes that don't make things so?

Down with reality! It's a concept whose time has gone.

 


Editorial Lint

JOHO is a free, independent newsletter written and produced by David Weinberger. He steadfastly denies responsibility for any errors or problems. If you write him with corrections or criticisms, it will probably turn out to have been your fault.

Subscription information, or requests to be removed from the JOHO mailing list, should be sent to [email protected]. There is no need for harshness or recriminations. Sometimes things just don't work out between people.

Dr. Weinberger is in a delicate nervous state, but if you want to send positive comments to him, his email address is [email protected].

Dr. Weinberger is represented by a fiercely aggressive legal team who responds to any provocation with massive litigatory procedures. This notice constitutes fair warning.

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The Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization is a publication of Evident Marketing, Inc.

"The Hyperlinked Organization" is trademarked by Open Text Corp. JOHO gratefully acknowledges Open Text's kind permission to use this felicitous phrase.

For information about trademarks owned by Evident Marketing, Inc., please see our Preemptive Trademarks™™ page at http://www.hyperorg.com/misc/trademarks.html.