From Cyber to Hybrid

The passage that I have chosen to discuss by de Souza e Silva is from the section titled, Hybrid spaces as connected spaces: Hybrid reality versus virtual, augmented, and mixed realities (CR Pg 759)

As I read this passage I came to understand a little more about how and where reality meets the virtual world and various ways they intertwine.
This section opens by discussing the growing mobility of the internet and how it is more readily available to carry with you essentially where ever you may go. In some places, like in Japan, the first time teens or young adults were introduced to the internet it was not called the internet and it was by means of a cellular phone. For this group of people the applications and uses for the internet are vastly different simply based on when/how it was introduced. As a mobile device it is much easier to use the internet to look up travel information, or do things on location. In affect we are shading the divide between “real” and “virtual.” Making it more and more muddy and unclear as to where one ends and the other begins.

It’s true that as I grew up computers, pagers, PDAs, and cellular phones were growing in popularity. I knew a time when to have a cell phone meant that you were important, at least in my mind. Now days it seems that almost everyone has a cell phone. Anyone from ages 1-91 and even beyond have these devices. People on many different socioeconomic groups have cell phones, iPods, or other devices that connect them to the virtual world.

In connection with the people in Japan (or other places) who have never used a computer to connect to the internet … I know people that I talk to here in the states that say they use computers, but they use their iPhone, Blackberry, or some other mobile device to do most of their online interactions. “Oh I can look it up right here, it’ll be faster” I hear my friend say as we discuss where to go for lunch, and how to get there.

Another example of connecting at a mobile level are GPS units. These little tools are quite useful. You can look up attractions, stores, restaurants, movie theaters (and play times), gas prices and much more. Not to mention the wonderful feature that automatically adjusts your route according to traffic delays.

The way we think about the internet is changing, whether we realize it or not. The internet is becoming much more mobile as well as more convenient to connect to. In fact in many cases we are constantly connected whether we think about it or not.

This divide between what we think of as real space and virtual reality is disappearing before our eyes. We are losing the distinction. Try watching a movie in the theater … what parts are real? What parts are computer generated? Sometimes it’s hard to tell … it’s not like Mary Poppins or Blue’s Clues anymore, where even when the realities were “blended” it was easy to distinguish which reality was which.