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The term connectivity refers to the use of communication technologies for interaction. It is the creation of networks between personal computers and other devices like modems and printers, and with other networks like satellite systems (Hartley 2002, p.35). Best described as a network of interdependence, connectivity is access and interaction made possible by communication technologies, particularly the Internet. 'Connectivity also describes the aspect of society that ties us together through complex flows of inter-relationship and dependency' (Hartley 2002, p.36). We are dependent on a vast web of networks, such as water supply, transportation and industry, to simply survive.
Connectivity, in a technological sense, was first used by computer company IBM, according to Hartley (2002, p.35), as 'a name for their proprietary service of coordinating and bringing about communication between computers'. In the late 1970s, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) established a committee to set standards which would allow interoperability between different computer manufacturers, increasing the reach and potential for networked communications. As a result, in 1982 a new effort in networking was established by the ISO, called Open Systems Interconnection, or OSI, extending the possibilities for connectivity (Hartley 2002 p.35). OSI was an industry initiative to encourage everyone to use a common network standard to enable greater reach. Prior to the advent of OSI, networking and thus connectivity was limited as devices lacked common protocols which would allow them to communicate. OSI was eventually eclipsed by newer technology in the form of the Internet's TCP/IP protocol suite, a more practical approach than the theoretical OSI protocols.
Connectivity is largely defined by the level of network access and interaction a person has. It is possible to be plugged in at every juncture with the advent of wearable computer technology, mobile telecommunications (Mobile Phones) and internet telecommunications (Youth Culture and New Technologies - VoIP) which has led to the identification of a new phase in the social order, the Network Society. Connectivity is closely linked to the notion of interactivity, which identifies 'the development of the relationship between person and computer, and with others via the computer (or network) (Hartley 2002, p.120)'. In fact, one cannot exist with out the other.
'Communications technologies interconnect people into a network of ideas, information, E-Commerce and Virtual Communities (Hartley 2002, p.71)'. However, connectivity is a Western phenomenon. The Digital Divide, a by-product of connectivity, and disparity of resources and education provisions in different cultures the world over, has created a gap between the information-rich and the information-poor which directly coincides with economics. Connectivity depends on a certain level of basic technology and communication devices, such as computers, Internet access and electricity and in 2001, only 6 per cent of the world’s population were online (Hartley 2002, p.71). As such, the notion of connectivity is not all encompassing, nor will it be in the near future.
--Alison Martin 09:45, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
