What is Cyberspace?
| Cyberspace |
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Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks. Cyberspace is an extension of the idea of virtual reality. Instead of seeing computer data converted into pictures that come from human experience (as in a flight simulator), or extensions from human experience (such as the "desktop" metaphor used with personal computers), cyberspace comprises computers, telecommunications, software and data in a more abstract form. At the core of cyberspace is the matrix or the Net: "The Net... joins all of the computers and telephones on Earth. It is formed by radio, telepho and cellular links with microwave transmitters beaming information into orbit and beyond. In the 20th century, the Net was only accessible via a computer terminal, using a device called a modem to send and receive information. But in 2013, the Net can be entered directly using your own brain, neural plugs and complex interface programs that turn computer data into perceptual events" View From the Edge, [8]. In several places, reference is made to the military origin of the cyberspace interfaces: "You're a console cowboy. The prototypes of the programs you use to crack industrial banks were developed for [a military operation]. For the assault on the Kirensk computer nexus. Basic module was a Nightwing microlight, a pilot, a matrix deck, a jockey. We were running a virus called Mole. The Mole series was the first generation of real intrusion programs." Neuromancer, [4]. "The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games... early graphics programs and military experimentation with cranial jack" Neuromancer, [4]. Gibson also assumes that in addition to being able to "jack in" to the matrix, you can go through the matrix to jack in to another person using a "simstim" deck. Using the simstim deck, you experience everything that the person you are connected to experiences: "Case hit the simstim switch. And flipped in to the agony of a broken bone. Molly was braced against the blank grey wall of a long corridor, her breath coming ragged and uneven. Case was back in the matrix instantly, a white-hot line of pain fading in his left thigh." Neuromancer, [4]. The matrix can be a very dangerous place. As your brain is connected in, should your interface program be altered, you will suffer. If your program is deleted, you would die. One of the characters in Neuromancer is called the Dixie Flatline, so named because he has survived deletion in the matrix. He is revered as a hero of the cyber jockeys: "'Well, if we can get the Flatline, we're home free. He was the best. You know he died braindeath three times.' She nodded. 'Flatlined on his EEG. Showed me the tapes.'" Neuromancer, [4]. Incidentally, the Flatline doesn't exist as a person any more: his mind has been stored in a RAM chip which can be connected to the matrix. |
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