Leaving the web open

The web is a formalized construct realized in the world of cyberspace which we dreamt up in the middle to late parts of the previous century.  It has expanded exponentially at a rate that is blinding and shocking yet we are embraced by the warm ideals in which it was conceived.  The web was to be a revolutionarily democratic space of the virtual nature, an expression of a spatiality of remote and asynchronous dialogue and contemplation in all the different media which could be mustered into the digital.  

But what has happened between the time of the conception of www and now? Increasingly we find information in abundance, and the most relevant information has become as though scattered amongst the depth and breadth of data encountered from day to day.  What is more, the information technologies, subscribing to the original ideal and vision of cyberspace, is becoming distributed to utility by users from beyond demographics imaginable.

It is important to recall what is meant by sustainability.  We must consider the sustainability of the information technology industry, for yes, it has emerged as an industry, with followings and user base of a quantity beyond belief.

The implication that the web exists as a wide open blank slate means it has been and hopefully will always be an experimental ground, a playground, on which many things viable can enter trial with a real world userbase.  But ever expanding, the enterprises may be stretched thin with limited resources.  The finitude of resources means that most of the resources end up becoming dedicated to the original functions prescribed rather than the projected sphere of possibilities envisioned, leading to the reality that further developments from the same branches of notions and ideas are curtailed from growth.  This results in curtailed developments in applications, a truncation of possibilities from being extended.  Thus the web did extend in this way and that way, but hardly ever do we perceive that it has extended in all ways possible.  The inertia of the application being developed by the enterprise is bound to the requirements and expectations of the de facto userbase.  This we must inquire into.

There is a ratio of projected userbase to non-projected userbase.  If we place it into a function ratio = projected-userbase / nonprojected-userbase, then we can quickly discover to what extents is our application serving the userbase as projected and considered from the start.  If the ratio > 1, for example, we know that there is at least 50% of the demographics which we have projected the usage for.  Yet, if the ratio is greatly < 1, then we know the application is serving demographics which is likely not interested in contributing to the growth of the application, and by extension, not likely to the societal conventions and norms in which the application is situated.  Where it is in the latter case, we see the phenomenon of the apathetic user, who is in for the zero cost or very inexpensive product, but is disinterested and non-contributive to the ecology and meaning, let alone ideal, in which we created the product.

The issue of course is that information technology products can just as easily submerge into the currents of consumerism.  Not everybody can recall the dreams in which the industry was born.  This too argues for the importance of ascribing economy to the industry, in which absolute valuation of the industry's products, and the products of associated industries like computers and networking, provides context for interpreting the actual value of the products.  Notions and ideas whether generated in the pure realm of creativity or through research may also find valuation.  Values may not always be a dollar amount, but if the currency of meaning and conventions cannot be transferred or be meaningfully translated across spheres, then the disinterest displayed by the nonprojected users may result in a loss in value impossible to recuperate, a business conundrum.

Sustainability becomes an issue dependent on the economic sense for the industry.  While we are of the view that cyberspace should be extended to every single person in the world, as was in the original conception, we must be realistic in thinking possible disentanglement strategies.  One such strategy is to reinforce and grow what is at the basis real and substantial. I believe this leads to the outcome that while we must not abandon the openness of web applications, we need to invest in special applications for real world needs - to purpose tools that meet requirements for those invested in the industry's future.

The web is like an experimental ground, hopefully forever open.  Meanwhile, the notions and concepts developed into concrete but finite applications remain worthy of further investigation.  For this reason, they can be developed into hard wired services for public functions as well as secured private and commercial functions.  The economic sense lies in servicing the clientele that has supported the industry with means and capital.  This clientele has the power to add dollar values to our industry of information technology.  Within our own societies here in North America, many will pay a reasonable fee whether standalone or in package for services which are more versatile and secure.  If we consider the web to be a space for prototypal endeavors, we should hold open the space for all future possibilities. Yet, in returning a little bit of conservatism, we may yet find that the sustainability of industry will strengthen as we find avenues for coordinated private development, something we ought to have learned from working in the web for so many years.

While our enterprises cannot change much of the ideal bases we hold onto tightly as our fundamental premise, it may be time to consider special applications for public and private sectors or the field of public functions and private enterprises in general, focusing on versatility and security rather than the already in the works openness so as to reach specific needs on the continent for which we must fashion the right tools.  The web is an improbable yet already concretized expression particularized from our dream of the cyberspace.  As we move into other realms of digital frontier, such as the object-space metaverse or augmented slash generated digital presence or the digital currency www3, we should continue to subscribe to the original vision.  Passing along the vision to next generations, we can hold onto the optimism that the founding principles of cyberspace will continue to find definite manifestation, yet at the same time explore avenues to reinforce the information technology industry, one that continues to seek proper recognition and financial-economic foundations.  It is a central point to this short article that disinterested demographics in the userbases could mean failures to the model of operation including financing and ecological management.  But if this horizon is too wide for immediate solutions, we should likely need to refer back to some basics in economy and transform the older data of how economical models assisted real world transactional worlds into realizable forms, specially adapted onto the realities of our industry.  Without effective communication of the drastic nature of the gesture embracing the world with newly generated technology, something done with not a little cost but the expenses of many livelihoods, we may be shorted despite the vast scale of the industry by its activity and products.  A question remaining to be apprehended.

- returns of various kinds possible from the international community - funding is most obvious, what type of institution can garner financial investments from worlds outside of N. America? - to what extents is trade understood as mutual benefit between trading parties, what is fair especially in this climate that questions the instating of big data? - consider reciprocity in trade but also economic growth as diplomatic and generative - the value of the imaginary spanning the world

- absolute valuation - in what ways can we qualify heritage-lineage developments unique to these here parts - what can be communicated and at what magnitude-scale of qualification does communication become effective - are there ways to concretize valuation beside the quantification in dollar terms - what role can the notion of trading futures play in economic qualifications of products that are developed uniquely here - how does open sourcing play a role or lead to detriments in terms of economics - is valuation understood?

- information campaigns - can we budget for propagative information that showcases the value being generated being offered for very little costs over the world wide web - are we not creating value in the world at large - what is the value of the new - how have we come upon and hold onto a culture in which novel innovations are appreciated - how does this culture different from other profit based cultures - what does it mean to be competitive in the international community beside having the largest monetary capital gains - what do we offer over the long term which is unique and emblematized implicitly in our products - we are seeking appreciation cross borders for our products are being offered everywhere, in what types of appreciation are we interested

- the meaning of cyberspace; the meaning of metaverse; how our notions have been developed by others; our original documents, archived properly with special labels?