On Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:09:10 +0000, marc garrett wrote: > > There are two tell-tale words here: abstraction and control. In order > to > manage a cloud, there needs to be a monitoring system which controls > its > functioning, a system which is by definition hidden from the > end-user.
He's trailing American beards here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman http://www.softwarefreedom.org/events/2010/isoc-ny/FreedomInTheCloud-transcript.html Abstraction in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. We don't program computers using physical switches or assembly code any more, and that's probably a gain. But the abstractions in cloud computing are *managerial* and *obfuscatory*. > The paradox is thus that, as the new gadget (smartphone or tiny > portable) I hold in my hand becomes increasingly personalized, easy > to > use, “transparent” in its functioning, the more the entire set-up has > to > rely on the work being done elsewhere, on the vast circuit of > machines > which coordinate the user’s experience. That's not a paradox. For me to do less work but for the work still to be done the work must happen elsewhere. The problem is who controls that work and as a result my sense of individuality/individuation. Mass aesthetic personalisation can, and under capital probably must, be produced by mass social and technical depersonalisation. Artists can usefully intrude in this. > In other words, for the user > experience to become more personalized or non-alienated, it has to be > regulated and controlled by an alienated network. This is "deskilling". I don't know how deskilling relates to alienation. (I mean I really don't, not that I'm being obtuse. :-) ) It's perfectly possible for us to be alienated from our own devices without the cloud, that's what proprietary software does. Likewise a non-alienated cloud is (just about) conceivable both economically and technologically if it's a co-op or p2p setup using commodity software and hardware. - Rob. _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
