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Re: What is "the Web"

• To: Mark Baker <distobj@a...>
• Subject: Re: What is "the Web"
• From: Jonathan Robie <jonathan.robie@d...>
• Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 10:30:38 -0400
• Cc: xml-dev@l...
• In-reply-to: <20020426101605.R6973@w...>
• References: <2C61CCE8A870D211A523080009B94E430752B365@HQ5><2C61CCE8A870D211A523080009B94E430752B365@HQ5>

At 10:16 AM 4/26/2002 -0400, Mark Baker wrote:
>I said it was VERY big, didn't I? 8-)
>
>If you don't believe me, name something with identity, anywhere in the
>universe, that cannot respond (directly or by proxy) to a GET
>invocation.

Looking at my desk here.....a coffee cup, a notepad, a role of tape, a pack 
of gum, a pile of unsorted papers....

A map is not the same thing as the terrain that it represents. Certainly, 
any real world object may be given one or more representations in a 
particular model, but the real world is not part of the model that 
represents it. And these representations can be contradictory, which is why 
both a physics based on Euclidean geometry and one based on non-Euclidean 
geometry are in widespread use for practical problems.

And the real world does have identity - I am the same person I was as an 
infant or a fetus, even though every one of my cells has been replaced, my 
appearance has changed, etc. Another everyday example of identity in the 
real world is "my grandfather's axe", which has had 4 heads and 3 handles, 
but it's still as good as new.

So I would say that the web *does* have boundaries, and I guess I think 
they are more restrictive than you do. Which is a good thing, because if 
the real world starts to be conflated with our computer systems, I will be 
extremely nervous if my computer tells me things like "It is now safe to 
shutdown your computer".

Jonathan

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• References:
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    • From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
  • Re: What is "the Web"
    • From: Mark Baker <distobj@a...>

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