From: williams@va.arca.com (Jeff Williams)
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 13:44:00 +0800
To: vznuri@netcom.com
Subject: Re: info assembly line, "flits" (long)
Message-ID: <1093009406.50185835@va.arca.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Vladimir Z. Nuri,vznuri@netcom.com writes:

> what the flit concept does is introduce a *context* to a bit.
> a bit has no "context".  where did a bit come from? the situation
> with information is that it always has a *context* and is tied
> with other information. (so in addition, I might like to suggest
> that "flits" can be "tied together" with each other).

To me, bits don't need context any more than atoms do.  Their whole beauty
(like atoms) is their simplicity.  You can build incredibly complex
structures (like jaguars) from the simplest of particles (or bits).

Negroponte's analogy begs the question of the physics of cyberspace.  They
are clearly different from the physics of the real world.  Imagine if you
lived in a world where objects could be duplicated extremely quickly,
cheaply, and perfectly.  You could send things around at the speed of light.
Nothing ever happens except by the action of a program.  What would be
valuable to you in this world (crypto-relevance)?  Why would you care about
"where" anything is?  Why would you bother to "move" something?

Putting aside the implementation problems with "flits", I don't think there
is any need to make cyberspace behave like the real world.  The best things
about cyberspace are the differences with the real world.  I agree we need to
work on the interfaces between worlds, but that doesn't equate to making them
the same. 

A major problem with your note is that it confuses the bit-atom level view of
the world with the document-jaguar level.  People don't have to interact with
bits any more than they have to deal with atoms.  The properties you are
seeking are at a higher level than bits and are already in early development
(OpenDoc and others).   The "information assembly line" is at this higher
level and does not require "flits".

Thanks for a provocative note.

--Jeff