2005-04-27
A cow will wince
Here are some examples of realtime verospheres ranging from a simple game of poker, unaided by computers, to network comprised of millions of participants.
The constraints of poker are the rules of the game, the tacit codes of conduct gamblers share, and the norms of society. At some point in the game, when all bets have been placed and the call to show hands is made, real time is frozen – lock tight interdependence is established between all the players still in the game. Until all the players lay down their cards the outcome is unknown, yet at this point no player can adjust her bet or change her hand. The gamblers are locked in suspended real-time.
There is a shortage of apartments in Stockholm. It is quite common to acquire a lease or ownership of a new apartment through trading. A couple planning a divorce might wish to exchange a 4-room flat for two 2-room flats – a couple about to have children might wish the reverse. If two traders don’t have exactly what the other wants others can be brought into the deal. Though the wishes of traders might be better served in multi-party deals, the risks for a defection ruining the trade increase drastically as the amount of participants increases. Any single defector will disrupt the deal for all others.
“In the future, when a car buyer in a showroom in Connecticut is tempted to opt for the leather upholstery – a cow will wince in Nebraska.” The preceding quote from a exuberant advocate of Business to Business computer systems, conjures up a vision of real-time end-to-end interaction that is (minus the cognitive role of the cow) serious business for today’s system architects . It epitomises just-in-time business strategies that tie together, via realtime computerized information channels, entire vertical and horizontal value chains, in this case from unhappy cow to slaughter house – tanner – tailor – seat manufacturer – car assembly plant – distributor – dealership to happy customer.
Each node of the Internet is identified and accessed by a unique address, like a telephone number. Since these numbers are long and hard to memorize, the founding fathers decided to give each Internet node a unique name. The relationship between the names and numbers is called a mapping and any time you write the name of a website you wish to visit, that name is converted into the appropriate number by a interconnected network of domain name servers (DNS). Not realizing the eventual consequences, but aware of the administrative problems any other solution would entail, the Internet pioneers decided that names would be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis – period.
Readers are surely aware of the resulting confusion, but the system is miraculously still intact, though no longer monopolised by one authority. Today you can access an accredited DNS agency and enter a name which you would like to use as a website address. You will, within milliseconds, be informed if that name is not taken, in which case you will be offered the opportunity to buy it (actually lease it) and if you happen to have a credit card handy, or better yet, your credit card is on file at the agency, you may by clicking on your screen, gain exclusive access to the domain name. Keeping in mind that there are tens of millions of Domain names and perhaps millions of aspiring domain owners, hundreds of millions of credit card holders, and billions of web pages, we are beholding a mighty realtime verosphere indeed.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]