Technology and its Effects

This is a paper I wrote in one of my classes.

Recombinant Architecture

When I searched the Internet for the definition of recombinant, the top results were from the medical field. The Web site www.antigenics.com defines recombinant as “a process involved in genetic recombination that gives rise to offspring that have combinations of genes different from those of either parent.” This is the very essence of recombinant architecture in the information technology field where most physical structures have been replaced by bits and bytes, e.g., from bookstores to bitstores, from stacks to servers, from work to net-work, from home to @home, among others. These shifts arose from the need to accommodate more information and to establish connections regardless of time and space.

McLuhan’s global village where “technology gradually creates a totally new human environment” ingeniously captures this phenomenon. As long as a computer is hooked up to the Internet, we can let our fingers “[cursors] do the walking” (Yellow Pages). Technology also helps maximize physical spaces as “all that is solid melts into air” and as the “world turns into an electronic stage,” said William Mitchell in Recombinant Architecture.

A good example of this is how bookstores have dedicated store spaces for bitstores. Digitized information accessible online and those in compact disks (CDs) have replaced printed books. For retailers, this means reduced shelf spaces, for customers, this provides access to a much wider selection. This is also true for university libraries which are accessible outside campus through professor/student accounts. When one needs copies of voluminous information, downloading chapters has become fast and easy. As Mitchell said, “being online may soon become a more important mark of community membership than being in residence.”

This is the same reasoning for the establishment of Globex as claimed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Chairman, “[This is a way] to extend our market around the globe across borders and time zones.” Thus, work has shifted to net-work. Employees of a wired business establishment “almost never have to visit the home office.” At present, “business arrangements [that] demand good computing and telecommunications environments rather than large, permanent home offices.”

Even our homes now evolve to accommodate these changes. In the words of W. Mitchell, “[B]ox-busting house plans now bids to become the most powerful organizer of domestic spaces and activities.” This is in compliance with Vitruvius’ principle of architectural decorum which he wrote around 1 BC, “appropriateness of form to purpose and status.”

Outside of the field of architecture, the same principle holds true to this date. More information is accessible online, thus, it is more convenient to have online memberships than to be physically present to talk with colleagues. As a result, face-to-face interactions have been greatly reduced due to good computing and telecommunications environments. “The new technology is diminishing the role for human participants” as observed by financial market players. Shopping which used to be the “chance to mingle with fellow citizens” occurs less frequently and is actually a thing of the past to a good number of “wired” people as information has been digitized.

The proliferation of digitized information arose from the need to accommodate more information. In the process, recombinant architecture came into play and enabled the shift to bits and bytes replacing physical structures. We now “see offspring that have combinations of genes different from those of either parent.” Bookstores have turned into bitstores, stacks have been replaced by servers, work has evolved into net-work, being at home can now fittingly be referred to as being @home. We have truly established connections regardless of time and space.