end of cyberspace

Francois Gossieaux points out a new blog I've just subscribed to:

"According to Alex Soojung-Kim Pang from the Institute for the Future , it also means the end of cyberspace. As a matter of fact he thinks that the idea has gained enough popularity to support a standalone blog - called the end of cyberspace - which sounds like an interesting new voice to watch in the future."

I couldn't resist...

From Alex Soojun-Kim Pang's latest post:

"...going online had the feeling of travel: it was strenuous and time-consuming. Indeed, in 1996 law professors David Johnson and David Post argued that since going online-- dialing up an ISP, and entering a username and password-- was the equivalent of going through customs, and thus that "[c]rossing into Cyberspace is a meaningful act that would make application of a distinct 'law of Cyberspace' fair to those who pass over the electronic boundary."

Have I just romanticized the experience of going online in the early, heady days of the Web? Am I oversensitive? Or did the difficulty of getting online contribute to a sense that you were going somewhere, that cyberspace was separate from ordinary life?

This isn't just rhetorical. I'm genuinely curious."

It has been a long time since I've heard the screeching, glitching sound of the modem (modem.wav). Do I miss it? I miss it in the same way that I miss...er, let's not go there...