Recommended reading: Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test > Further > Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) > Merry Pranksters { The Warlocks/The Grateful Dead/John Perry Barlow} | Stewart Brand
Click here to see the Fall 1968 Whole Earth Catalog.
Before we get to the WELL and BBSs, there was Community Memory (located in a record shop).
Go to 14:20 for a demonstration of the WELL.
Click here for Howard Rheingold on the early days of the WELL.
Looper – “Modem Song” lyrics and song:
Poe – “Hello” lyrics and song:
Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ is when talks about the different ways of looking into the visual community. This technology also brings into everyone and that it also relate to one another which helps people look at these media in a whole different way. In the article Technology and Culture, it said, âThe Internet and the Worldwide Web have swung into public view, and both the WELL and Rheingold’s notion of the virtual community have become touchstone.â This is trying to explain to us that we also live in a world where we depend on our internet because we use these to communicate with people worldwide life families and friends. He talks about the different ways technology was used in the past and that each and every technology was used differently because they donât work the same and that it shows how people are learning and growing from these different technologies that are being shown and talked about. He also talked about social life and college student using these technologies and how these social movements are do something because it becomes a challenge for them to figure out everything. In the article also said, âMerry Pranksters, Drop City was devoted to pursuing collective harmony and creating traveling pieces of multimedia theater (called, with no apparent irony, “Droppingsâ).â This is also talking about the language about being able to see the media and listening to the people acting. All of these visual community helps people worldwide.
In Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ there is strong discussion on the creation on what would be the BBS system (bulletin-board system known as the Whole Earth âLectronic Link, or the WELL). In this creation, there is now a development that there is a realization that we are now truly in a graphic artistic technology approach to these things. Howard Rheingold understands that this virtual community is something that is the beginning of an evolution because he understood small technologies were imperative to help bring about an alternative to that world.
The article discussed how technology of this caliber became the responsibility that would be an ongoing situation where an individual named Larry Brilliant began to take notice and wanted to play a role. He wanted to partner with Steward Brand, who published the âWhole Earth Catalogâ in 1971 with efforts to expand such a brand. After being offered 1.3 million dollars to start on the Whole Earth Software Catalog, Larry Brilliant at the time founded Network Technologies International and after offering this partnership with Brand there was a realization that through WELL and Software Catalog it had two very distinct features. It states, âa rich mix of technical, countercultural, and journalistic communities, and a management ethos derived from a blend of countercultural politics and systems theory. (Turner p. 497) The ability for these two gentleman to continue to work together to expand on not only the technology community, but it was reaching a bigger platform. This mesh was very relevant to further ideas that were thought for future engineers, but this shows show ideas are generated from one person to an entire society.
Summary of Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ
Turner earned his Phd in Communications from the University of California and taught at Harvard. In his article âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ he describes the rise of a culture that lead to the online communities we have today. The major influences were the Whole Earth Catalog, The WELL, and the convergence of communication technology.
The Whole Earth Catalog was a collection of information that offered an emerging culture access to materials of curiosity for cheap. Starting out small, the magazine quickly became a publication of over 400 pages. All manner of articles, learning, tools, books and instructions could be found inside the catalog. This became a common trend among the counterculture that was rising against the Cold War era.
As technology developed, enthusiasts took the movement online with the Whole Earth âLectronic Link (WELL). This became the medium for the culture and content that was once carried by the catalog. Turner describes this as coming to âundergird popular understandings of early computer networks.â The WELL offered many early computer enthusiasts the knowledge they needed to innovate and deliver new ideas. One of which was Steve Jobs. Turner explains that the WELL became a ânetwork forumâ by linking âscattered members⊠as members of a single social network.â
This merging of ideas, instruction, and technology was what Turner lead to when he explains the convergence of communication technology. The WELL opened a market of products by alerting the culture to the value. Turner says this trend became the economy of our online communities.
After Stewart and Brand came up with the idea of âWhole Earth Catalogâ book that won the first national book award; due to the fact that it established the connection between information technology and economic activityâ Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ developed the the beginning of the WELL âWhole Earth âLectronic Linkâ which is the oldest virtual communities in constant operation. It showed the connection that virtual community and social network have, as well as the differences. Especially, knowing the fact that people get confused trying to illustrate that. They both similar in some aspects; due to the fact that they both are used for personal and professional interests. The reason why virtual communities differ is because of that they are not connected through a mutual friend with people one already knows or even knows of but with people who has a common interest or ideology. In some parts of the essay, I noticed it demonstrating how the growth of people has helped technologies to develop. Since new technologies are so different from the new ones because of its speed and the fact that it saves way more time. The so called WELL was known for its advantages in which it was possible to save time using it as well as exchange pieces of information even though these information werenât a formal database. In page 511 Turner explained how âthe WELL developed a relationship between information, technology, and communityâ which is helped the organization of society by which it offered â a tool to build a new form of geographical sociabilityâ
Fred Turnerâs âWhere the counterculture met the new economy: the WELL and the origins of virtual communityâ is an interesting read. Turner writes about the early origins of communalization in America. Things like catalogs and events were early examples of communities that resembled modern day social media networks such as twitter and Facebook. They aimed to provide access to information and materials for as little a possible. Even more interesting than the aim of these early communities is the beginning of the ideology which came from people fantasizing about a simpler world. The Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL) was one of the first virtual communities geared to making a lonely, cut and dry world governed by hierarchy into a more connected place. In the early days these technologies were bulletin board systems which were mainly used for sharing information over a network. These systems were early forms of communities over computer networks. These systems/virtual communities marked the beginning of the mass information sharing networks that eventually would evolve into things like social media which would be much more accessible through other machines. Aside from software applications hardware also played a role in the evolution of the systems. If hardware were more accessible and mobile it could help make the systems just as accessible and mobile. It is funny that the idea of virtual communities became such a big part of life because it came from what at the time was seen as a countercultural ideology. These new communities ended up being a big part of modern day life. The WELL is still up and running today with a strong community and mentions in the press.
The discussion of connecting the worldâs population to each other is interesting, and definitely links language with technology. The fact that in the 80âs a BBS or Bulletin Board System connected you to someone across the country through a telephone line, and could get you a response to your question within 24hrs was a marvel back in the day. Now, for better or worse, dedicated internet transmissions can get you responses from numerous types of social media and applications within seconds, which makes the world feel smaller than what it actually is. In the 80âs this act of posting to a BBS linked people to each other, which allowed the counterculture to become more prevalent. This is what is discussed in Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ. The counterculture is a way of life that goes against the current social norm. This reaction can be traced to cause and effect principle, where the effect of a connected world caused an uprising of new ideas and societal changes that impacted every corner of the world. In class, we saw the example of having to interpret the law differently when it came down to who is truly responsible for what is posted in a BBS, is it the person who typed it in, or the owner? What if the owner is just respecting their BBSâ members privacy?
It also affected people in a different way. Having a BBS made the âWhole Earth Catalogâ, a catalog discussing knowledge of different topics, a way more expansive collection of catalogs. With the ability to spread knowledge from different disciplines faster, it opened up doors for people. That in itself is important even to this day.
Fred Turner was an American restaurant industry executive, chair and CEO of McDonald’s. Not only was he a successful entrepreneur, he was also a successful author, famously known for âWhere the counterculture met the new economyâ. It is a basic reiteration of what Turner thought of assembly of ideas and how technology was what Turner believes is the main key aspect of communication technology. Turner writes about the early origins of communalization in America (like catalogs and events were which were similar to modern day social media networks such as twitter and Facebook) The Whole Earth âLectronic Link (WELL) was one of the first virtual communities geared to making a âworld governed by hierarchyâ into a more connected place. In the early days these modes of technologies were systems that were mainly used for sharing information over a network. Nowadays people use social media and technology in order to post how their day is or a relationship update. Media is still used for communication but instead of mostly important things being shared, information that is quite unnecessary or less important compared to others are being broadcasted. However regardless of what people shared and how relevant it is, this is still an example of how human communications travels worldwide and media is the only way to keep people from around the world, friends and family, stay connected.
In this reading âWhere He Counterculture Met the New Economyâ by Fred Turner is about how technologies are repeated and the five characteristics of its new media. Social relationships are taken from a place known as grammaphone, film, or typewriter. This is where what is known as discourse takes place. Origins of new media and the history of its images take place
In the article âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ explores the origins of virtual community. Larry Brilliant has created a new software called bulletin board system software which was a way to convey digital information to certain symbols that the software is able to pick up the signal and information sent anywhere and is able to show on the screens what the information is from anywhere. It is a software that allows anyone, anywhere to communicate with each other like a forum. That software was in the Whole Earth Catalog (WELL) which is the start of the network forum where others can go in and interact with others on a monthly subscription. At the early on stages of WELL the people in charge of the network has given the users the freedom to what their screens want to show. For example, a user could ease a comment they do not like off their own screen not from the whole network but just their own screen. While competitors took actions on copyrighting their stuff WELL has seen it that everyone is an adult and that they tell users âyou own your wordsâ and that they are responsible for what they post and that they can challenge anyone who took their words outside of WELLs it is the author’s responsibility and choice if they want to challenge them about it. WELLs were used to talk about the injustice that people see in the world or things that people see a way to explain something or by giving solutions to problems. It was a place that people in that generation has looked out for information and it inspires them. For Example, Steve jobs have even referred to the last issue of WELL on the last page that states âStay Hungry, Stay foolishâ which has inspired him to develop his own computer.
In the article âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ explores the origins of virtual community. Frank turner felt as though communication technology was very important to our future. These technologies consisted of BBSâs .Larry Brilliant himself had invented one himself what we called a bulletin board system which was exactly what it sounded like just on a computer. At time new to technology this bulletin board software was new and high tech to technologies beginning generations. The system was a open forum where people could go and post conversation and or even rebutted comments to topics as general as how to use a bulletin board forum. Questions and challenges arise and dissolved themselves when it came to the revolution of our technology in those times of spontaneous growth. Also was detailed was the whole earth catalog (WELL) the mother of the forums so to speak where thousands of discussions were held on the daily to educate others in exchange information all over the world in benefit of shared knowledge. Our first google wikipedia in a way. These were the early stages of showing the importance of being able to connect and communicate at instant and at distance simply to make the world a better place.
Fred Turnerâs âWhere the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ.
Fred Turner is an assistant professor at Stanford University who works for the department of Communication. He speaks about the WELL and the origins of Virtual Community. What is the WELL? WELL stands for the Whole Earth âLectron Link. It is also San Francisco Bay Area bulletin board system. A bulletin board system is like electronic media.People are able to exchange messages download/upload programs.He says that computer networks such as the WELL allowed us ârecapture the sense of cooperative spirit that so many people seemed to lose when we gained all this technologyâ.The last whole earth catalog was published in 1971. The WELL is described as a community but on computer networks.
Fred Turnerâs â Where the Counterculture Met the New Economyâ, he writes about how social media became what it is today, it did not start with facebook or mySpace it started as a a book providing people with cheap prices for all types of merchandise and access to one another, The Whole Earth Catalog. Branching back to Gitelmanâs idea that, âmedia are technologies that incorporate our experiencesâ: the experiences of Brand,creator of the catalog and Brilliant,founded of a Network Technologies International company, formed â WELL ( Whole Earth âLectronic Link )â, it took two new medias , joined them together to create a social and networking community. Even before WELL Link, the catalog had begun to connect people from different cultures and geographies. It seems to me that is also helped to spread the culture it readers in different locations. In reading this essay it occurred to me how crazy it is that the social networking we today, online, was really done by book and published.
In Fred Turner ” Where the counterculture met the new economy” he talks about virtual community; the introduction of The Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link also known as the WELL. focuses on the convergence of communication technology, the whole earth â lectronc linkâ (WELL) Co-founded by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant. The WELL started as a software company which was essentially a bulletin board system (BBS). A BBS is a software that creates a forum using the information from modern signals. We also discussed Ken Kesey, The Merry Pranksters and the bus named âFurtherâ, chronicled in a book by Tom Wolfe â The Electric Kool-aide Acid testâ.
Fred L. Turner’s” Where the Counterculture Met the New Economy: the WELL and the Origins of Virtual Community.” uses “WELL” to refine the interaction of human knowledge. His article correlates to the article “always already new.” Comprehending the history of technologies is essential. Technology inventions involve many inventors, this is related to Marshall McLuhan’s “We shape our tools, and our tool shapes us.” The WELL is no different than any of the other social media sites that exist today. People and their political ideologies continue to roam in groups, influencing, sharing, discoursing over politics. Before the WELL was created, there was a catalog called the Whole Earth Catalog, which was created by Stewart Brand. The catalog “presented reviews of hand tools, books and magazines arrayed in seven thematic categories: understanding whole systems, shelter and land use, industry and craft, communications, community, nomadics, and learning.” The Whole Earth catalogue provided those interested with a network of information, something we take for granted in our internet age.