The example of software in cars is given by the authors as a demonstration of the invisibility of software. For instance, they note that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EUI, 2000) predict that more than 30% of an executive car’s total value will soon be software. While the hardware in cars is obvious and difficult to hide, the software generally goes unnoticed. Indeed, cars are becoming so software-driven that the European Parliament plans “to fit all new cars with emergency telephone call technology by 2009”, which would automatically call the emergency services in case of an accident (“MEPs back hi-tech car safety kit”, BBC News website). The hardware sensors are the immediately obvious component of this system, but the software which drives it is key. Without the software to call 999, the sensors have no purpose in the vehicle.

A second example is that of the municipal wi-fi (wireless Internet) networks which currently cover American cities such as Philadelphia and Mountain View, and are rapidly spreading to others (“Google to provide San Francisco wi-fi”, Silicon.com). This city-wide cyberspace blankets the built environment, but while the hardware is immediately obvious the software which runs it is largely ignored.

A further example of the ubiquity of software in real spaces is the world-wide concern caused by the millennium bug (Y2K). A vast amount of hardware was designed in the 20th century without giving thought to the millennium, and so the internal clocks of these devices represented the current year in two digit format. For instance 1980 was, to the hardware, “80”. However, as the year 2000 approached it became apparent that the effects of the internal clocks reading “00” could not be predicted, and as such much of the world’s technology might stop working. Thrift and French list a long and varied list of things which could potentially be affected, from traffic lights and lifts to child protection registers and fire alarms. Dodge and Kitchin (2005) quote Bennett and Dodd (2000) in noting that “the cost [of making al technology Y2K-compliant] to the US Federal Government alone was estimated at $8.34 billion, while governments around the world spent an estimated $200-$600 billion to address the problem”. It seems it is only when the “software writing space” (Thrift and French, 2002) becomes a problem that it is noticed.

The phrase “software writing space” hints at another key point in the answer to the question, “What kind of space is cyberspace?” While cyberspace can be part of a conscious interaction between the online and offline worlds (and a resulting unconscious influence from one to the other) it can also be a constant unnoticed virtual space due to the software in real-world spaces everywhere. As Kitchin (1998) notes, “cyberspaces coexist with geographic spaces providing a new layer of virtual sites superimposed over geographic spaces.” Dodge and Kitchin (2005) discuss the three ways (“spatial transductions”) in which software (otherwise known as “code”) is found in this geographical space.

Firstly, there is “code/space [which] refers to a transduction wherein the relational problem cannot be solved without code.” An example of this spatial transduction is the code in a stereo system not working, whereby it will then not be able to play CDs; without the code, the system is useless. This illustrates a situation where the code is generally unnoticed (although the hardware is), but if the code fails then the system cannot work. Dodge and Kitchin note that “in these cases, code and space are dyadic, with the relationship so mutually constituted that if one half of the dyad is put ‘out of action,’ then the entire spatial transduction fails”.

Secondly, Dodge and Kitchin discuss “coded space”, where code allows extra functions or features but the main system can still work without it. The example given is CCTV in a shop – if the cameras stop working, the shop can still function without them. To build on an earlier example, the code running the emergency telephone system in the car is an example of coded space. Without it, the car can still run (as cars without the system currently do) but it is advantageous to have the code there.

Finally, there is “background coded space … where code has the potential to mediate a solution if purposefully activated.” For instance, mobile phone signals are (theoretically) always present as background coded space, but are not in use. Once the phone is used it becomes code/space, as the phone cannot function without a signal. Similarly, a system may become coded space if it is activated from being background coded space.

The above discussion further illustrates that cyberspace is, in part, a constant virtual space which surround our everyday lives. The way in which this “wideware” interacts with us can vary (code/space, coded space or background coded space) but cyberspace is ubiquitous in its presence.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7