- - The original note follows - -
Path:
psuvm!news.ysu.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!cats.ucsc.edu!tom
brown
From: tombrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Thomas Ford Brown)
Newsgroups: alt.architecture.alternative
Subject: Re: national information infrastructure. revamp urban form???
Date: 17 Oct 1993 23:38:45 GMT
Organization: x
Lines: 39
Message-ID: <29sl25$nc9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
References: <jcblac00.750649620@xxxxxxxxxxx>
NNTP-Posting-Host: am.ucsc.edu
In article <jcblac00.750649620@xxxxxxxxxxx> jcblac00@xxxxxxxxxxx (James C.
Black) writes:
>
>Currently I am exploring the connection and relation between
>the effect the highways had on urban form and the cyberpunk
>age with the National Information Infrastructur (NII) which
>has been proposed. Will the NII transform Urban form the
>same way in which the super Highways did? does this bring
>'home office' to a higher level?
No argument, but here are some observations:
The highways' impact was limited to the US. The
information infrastructure in place now is worldwide.
This means that labor processes can be moved even more easily
to locales in which workers are cheaper and more compliant.
Software and data processing work is already being
transported offshore. For example, one insurance
company flies claims to Ireland for processing.
A direct network connection makes this even easier.
Would "home office" work lead to a return to
cottage industry? I doubt it. A more plausible
analogy would be the take-home work form of
work organization characteristic of the garment industries.
In the beginning, a NII may benefit US info-service
workers, in that they will be more directly connected.
However, it seems plausible that the NII will be extended
globally as soon as economically possible.
Will NII transform urban form? I would predict
the "Detroitization" of urban centers as
administrative and clerical service work becomes more portable.
Path:
psuvm!news.ysu.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!cats.ucsc.edu!tom
brown
From: tombrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Thomas Ford Brown)
Newsgroups: alt.architecture.alternative
Subject: Re: national information infrastructure. revamp urban form???
Date: 17 Oct 1993 23:38:45 GMT
Organization: x
Lines: 39
Message-ID: <29sl25$nc9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
References: <jcblac00.750649620@xxxxxxxxxxx>
NNTP-Posting-Host: am.ucsc.edu
In article <jcblac00.750649620@xxxxxxxxxxx> jcblac00@xxxxxxxxxxx (James C.
Black) writes:
>
>Currently I am exploring the connection and relation between
>the effect the highways had on urban form and the cyberpunk
>age with the National Information Infrastructur (NII) which
>has been proposed. Will the NII transform Urban form the
>same way in which the super Highways did? does this bring
>'home office' to a higher level?
No argument, but here are some observations:
The highways' impact was limited to the US. The
information infrastructure in place now is worldwide.
This means that labor processes can be moved even more easily
to locales in which workers are cheaper and more compliant.
Software and data processing work is already being
transported offshore. For example, one insurance
company flies claims to Ireland for processing.
A direct network connection makes this even easier.
Would "home office" work lead to a return to
cottage industry? I doubt it. A more plausible
analogy would be the take-home work form of
work organization characteristic of the garment industries.
In the beginning, a NII may benefit US info-service
workers, in that they will be more directly connected.
However, it seems plausible that the NII will be extended
globally as soon as economically possible.
Will NII transform urban form? I would predict
the "Detroitization" of urban centers as
administrative and clerical service work becomes more portable.