Volume 3, No. 4 – November 2002

New Information and Communication Technologies and their Effect on Space

Review Essay

Gernot Wersig (2000). Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien. Eine Einführung in Geschichte, Grundlagen und Zusammenhänge [Information and Communication Technologies. An Introduction to History, Basics and Connections]

Jan Schmidt (Germany)

Abstract: The reviewed book is a systematic and well-written introduction to the field of information and communication technologies. Starting from WERSIG's focus on technical aspects, this paper concentrates on one dimension of the social context of technology: its influence on space. Issues of "placelessness" or "end of space" are discussed, especially in connection with the Internet; they fail, however, to recognize the various connections between "cyberspace" and real space. For example, the technological infrastructure and its spatial distribution constitute structures of centre and periphery. Additionally, contents such as Community Networks and City Guides directly refer to real space, thus adding another dimension to "the local."

Key words: information and communication technologies, sociology of space, Internet

This contribution is only available as a full text in the German language German text

Last update: 01/30/2003

Volume 3, No. 4 Table of Contents

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