Week 5

Question 1

Living History

Answer 1

Places the reader in the history, describes evolution of industrial art, detect correlations between social customs and technologies.

Question 2

Space Binding Media

Answer 2

Harold Innis

Make local culture less prevalent by spreading global consciousness.

Question 3

Babe views technological Nationalism as

Answer 3

a myth.

Question 4

Technological imperative and technological determinism

Answer 4

The order of things: humans have little control over advancement of technology.

Technological advancement accounts for human culture and behaviour.

Question 5

Babe challenges the myth of technological dependence by saying

Answer 5

that humans have agency and are responsible for the advancement of technology.

Technology is talked about as if it is separate from humans, and out of their control. But in fact, Babe reminds us, technology is human’s invention.

Question 6

Telephone networks are made up of 5 components

Answer 6

1 terminals
2 access facilities
3 local distribution
4 exchanges
5 long lines

Question 7

Terminals

Answer 7

Devices for initiating/receiving messages

Question 8

Access Facilities

Answer 8

Copper wires, radio waves

Question 9

Local Distribution

Answer 9

Local trunk cables

Question 10

Exchanges

Answer 10

Switching centres

Question 11

For Winseck there are three major periods in early telecommunications period

Answer 11

1 1880 federal charter allows Bell to develop a national telephone network

2 1893-1920 competitive telephone situation

3 Emergence of semi-corporatist political economic arrangements

Question 12

The 1880 charter allowed Bell to

Answer 12

Expand out to the West from the East

Question 13

What resulted from Bell’s corporate collusion with CPR?

Answer 13

A monopoly

Question 14

The backbone

Answer 14

Main line that handles all of the traffic (in regards to the internet)

Most providers have a neighbourhood circuit that feeds into the backbone.

Backbones are fibre

Question 15

Middle mile

Answer 15

Ex. in my community

Question 16

Last mile

Answer 16

From the street to my front door, most expensive.

Question 17

Materiality of the internet

Answer 17

Things you can tangibly touch

Question 18

RIFO in 2017

Answer 18

Restoring Internet Freedom Order

No net neutrality

FCC remains solid in its decision, current chair needs RIFO in place before the election.

Question 19

Why does Babe argue that telecommunications is ripping Canada apart rather than bringing it together?

Answer 19

• We mostly consumer American media
• Early telegraph tied Canada to U.S. centres and was mostly U.S. owned.
• Bell does not extricate itself from the U.S. until 70s.
• Satellite and cable only brings U.S. media

Question 20

Break up of Bell in the 1980’s in the U.S. courts

Answer 20

Anti-trust: government feels company has too much power and is stifling competition, feels company is a trust that must be broken up.

Bell is slowly coming together after it’s break up in the 80’s.

Question 21

Why the socialist approach to building telecommunications in the west?

Answer 21

No one was going to build rural systems, we have to make it accessible to the boonies.

Markets not going to do it, so we do it ourselves.

Question 22

Winseck argues that when people get engaged they can

Answer 22

change the system. The public has the power.

Question 23

Wholesale

Answer 23

Companies that do not own infrastructure pay companies that do for use of infrastructure.

Ex. Superstore/PC have their own mobile phones, they pay Bell for the use of Bell’s infrastructure.

Smaller companies getting access to companies that own facilities.

Question 24

Wholesale Code Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC

Answer 24

Regulates wholesale rates

Regulates how much Shaw can charge me for them to carry my television station

A way of making sure the companies that own the wires can’t control everything.

Question 25

How is the wholesale approach beneficial?

Answer 25

Brings new actors into the system and big companies stil make a profit.