Cyberspace is a geography constructed of information, a new planet with an atmosphere no less breathable for being imaginary. Its topography is undeveloped, as yet still locked into the intrinsic dimensions of its nodal points. It lies compressed and unrealized in our vaults of tapes and discs of data, in our books and dreams, in the very way we appear to each other on screens, pages and telephone lines. To unfurl and organize all this, to bring it to light in cyberspace, spatiology must complement archeology, immersion must complement observation.
Predictor: Benedikt, Michael L.
Prediction, in context:In a lecture at the “New Urbanism Symposium” at Princeton Oct. 17, 1992, that was also developed into a chapter for the book “The New Urbanism,” Michael Benedikt says: ”Giant electronics, entertainment, telephone, cable TV, and software companies are falling over themselves to establish strategic partnerships. At stake is future hegemony over the form and contents of the new media landscape, and eventually of cyberspace proper … Cyberspace must be made: it cannot simply be discovered or gotten to. Cyberspace is a geography constructed of information, a new planet with an atmosphere no less breathable for being imaginary. Its topography is undeveloped, as yet still locked into the intrinsic dimensions of its nodal points. It lies compressed and unrealized in our vaults of tapes and discs of data, in our books and dreams, in the very way we appear to each other on screens, pages and telephone lines. To unfurl and organize all this, to bring it to light in cyberspace, spatiology must complement archeology, immersion must complement observation.”
Date of prediction: October 17, 1992
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Virtual Communities
Name of publication: The New Urbanism
Title, headline, chapter name: Cityspace, Cyberspace and the Spatiology of Information
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.ar.utexas.edu/center/benedikt_articles/cityspace.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Boone, Jason Matthew