tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8819453.post1841351489020217582..comments2023-10-24T04:18:08.409-05:00Comments on J880: Human geography and mass communication: Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass USGreg Downeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8819453.post-12897621624577169782008-09-23T15:08:00.000-05:002008-09-23T15:08:00.000-05:00I have some quite similar thoughts as Jim on Commu...I have some quite similar thoughts as Jim on <I>Communication and Empire</I>.<BR/><BR/>Winseck and Pike have left me wanting for a couple of reasons. I tried to think of the <I>Communication and Empire</I> telegraph maps in relation to our Harley map discussion, and I got frustrated with the lack of context in the first few chapters. The maps, for example, might list cities and communication routes, but there is no discussion of why particular cities were chosen as sites of cable landings. Maybe the reasons are fairly obvious, such as population or the presence of ports, but still, if the authors are trying to make new arguments about how empire works, more context would be helpful.<BR/><BR/>To be fair, I did seem to note a change in voice around the treatment of Africa in chapter 3 and in chapter 4, where the evidence and facts were at least connected at a few points to the larger goals of the book. Regardless of how many histories of the telegraph there are, I was looking for more explicit connections between the broader themes/phenomena and the detail-rich but interpretation-light content of each chapter. Much like Dan and Brian have asked about the ideas of “modernization” and “development” I found myself asking—how does the evidence that Winseck and Pike provide support the claims they make in the preface and introduction about empire and the nature of imperialism?<BR/><BR/>Also, I see the interdependence and collaboration point they try to make, but in some ways, doesn’t the phenomenon of the telegraph by its very nature require some kind of relationship between two or more markets? Hopefully the second half of the text—or our class discussion—will fill in some of these blanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com