After listening to the online recorded lecture, the idea that information wants to be ‘free’ is supported by the Utopian movement during the 80’s and early 90s. Richard Stallman seeming ‘saint’ of this movement states:
Many including Steward Brand and even Tim Berners-Lee have aligned opinions, stating, ‘I designed it (World wide Web) for social effect… and to improve our weblike existence in the world.’ With the resistance towards the oppression of users sharing and therefore gaining power it supports Paul Barans’s ‘Packet Switching Network’ as we can see below:
With those believing, that if we are forever sharing information, we are possessing a sense of control over the information network, it begs me to question whether there are any networks still existing that act as Star Shaped Topologies distributing information to us in todays society other than, for example ATM’s.
Home Networking– This is often the most commonly used today, with the Router or Modem acting as the central device and all devices in the house connected to it, being provided the network.
Thats only an example however, most of todays networks work off a distributed network, even though this network, isn’t always evenly distributed, it gives us a clear indication that the central hub has completely lost control and importance and we are now all mediators of this ‘space’ that was once uncomprehendable. To keep the power therefore, is a sacred act of continuous sharing. This can be seen on many different scales, such as Android, Reddit and even Firefox.
I say keep sharing people!
jadelaurenhall 
Your post has made me wounder if we actually have as much power as we think. While we operate in a distributed network as you have clearly outlined the plat forms we use in this network are often controlled and reinstate centralisation. Other than torrent sites, there aren’t a lot of places where the content we share doesn’t go through some sort of monitoring and filtration process. If what you post breaches wordpress’s guidelines for example it could easily be removed against your control. I’d like to know what the net would be like if Richard Stallman got his dream of free information/content for all.
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It is extremely interesting how there seems to be a lack of a central node on the internet nowadays. The star shaped network is becoming more and more so irrelevant in our way of thinking about networks as new topographies become created. Topographies such as Rings, Brushes and Trees are being related to how people and technology networks are expressed. This website (https://www.edrawsoft.com/Network-Topologies.php) also has more information and definitions on network topographies. Another example of a star shaped network could also be a group of people watching a stream on Twitch. All of these people focusing on one centre node, consuming content from the same place however being spread among the whole world. Kind of amazing that we can now stream live our bedrooms, games and lives instantly with the help of technology and be fouced on one node, somewhat being controlled by it. Just some food for thought 🙂 You’re meme was excellent by the way! 🙂
~ krisesandchrosses ~
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Aw thanks for that example. It took me ages to try and find examples that were star shaped networks!
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I like the way you broke down the lecture like this. The idea that we are all able to share anything we want online is mind blowing, we are all creators! It kind of makes me think in terms of art and the internet, can all creation online be considered art? Something no one obviously needs any qualification or ‘job title’ to do.
🙂
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It is crazy that networks have changed so much in such a short time, and yet, some things have stayed the same. The evolution of networks has greatly benefitted and changed the way we operate as a society. Though simpler, older networks still play a role in our society. As you stated, the ATM is an example of a simple network operating in an effective and useful way. Even though networks have changed and evolved into something we could have never imagined, we still need the appreciate the most basic networks. They still play an important role within our global nervous system.
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I completely agree! Its interesting to actually break it down to see that not a lot of networks rely on Star topology networks anymore. Why do you think they still play a massive role? Do you think maybe that the way in which networks now function have surpassed the need for a basic network? I mean look at what happened with the census hack? 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
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Reading Stallman’s statement of free flowing information honestly frustrated me quite a bit. As the stereotypical poor uni student, I’ve had my fair share of annoyances with expensive text books and software that would be useful but I just couldn’t afford. However, I also realize that these are people’s livelihoods and more than likely have spent countless hours creating their product so they deserve the reimbursement in the form of money – if I had created photoshop I’d certainly want to be paid for it. Honestly, unless we changed from our capitalist ways, nothing will really be free. We have to pay for our internet and the hardware to go onto the world wide web so we never really have free access to information in any situation; well, maybe at the library.
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You broke down the points expressed in the lecture really well and has allowed me to gain a larger understanding of networking, and how the idea of “Power” comes to play. The examples you used further allows for more understanding. Great post!
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Through sharing of ideas and opinions, innovations that can further benefit our society arent limited just for the name of market gains. Richard Stallman encompassed this to the fullest.
Informative and insightful blog about the relevance and implications of having central network devices in today’s connected society. For me, having a limited reliance on a ‘central hub’ hands us users a higher sense of control and peace of mind. How good is the Truman Show!
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I really liked how you brought up some examples of how the star shaped/centralised network layout is still prevalent today despite living in an age where distributed network nodes prevail. Obviously there can be many examples of how centralised networking still plays an important role in our internet use today. The notion of YouTube- of course this plays into the distributed network paradigm, in which creators post their videos freely onto the platform, however conversely when it comes to the connection between viewers and creators, the viewers are nodes streaming off one centralised hub; the creator. Without their content, we would not be on YouTube. This article names the top YouTube creators currently as of June 2016: http://tubularinsights.com/top-youtube-channels/
Notably, kids themed videos are strikingly growing in popularity. We can gather that this generation will be raised watching tv shows online via these centralised hubs- rather than traditionally on television broadcasting channels.
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