"In Conclusion..."

Langdell Library, Harvard Law School

This is a picture of Spring in Cambridge. The snow has melted, flowers are blooming, and Harvard law students are huddled desperately over computers in the library trying to finish research papers. Many are finding sources using powerful online library catalogs or finding key cases using online databases and search engines. Is it possible, however, that they are not maximizing the power of the technology they have at their fingertips?

A general theme that has emerged out of this project is that technology, more than anything else, is a tool. It can do good and it can do bad, but most likely it can only reflect and enhance those tendencies its users already embody. I thus chose not only to write about technology, a subject that interests me deeply, but sought to employ it in doing so. I had noticed certain frustrating aspects of the traditional law school academic process and hoped to use this forum as a way around some of these unfortunate limitations.

In my first two years of law school I heard much about “3L papers.” The Harvard Law School catalog claims that “[t]his experience of sustained, intensive, personal work … is a substantial aspect of your legal education.” (HLS Catalog, p217) However, the almost universal sentiment within the student body was that the 3L paper is a substantially negative experience – a tedious and pointless chore that darkens an otherwise less stressful third year. More often than not it ends up making April a burden for 3Ls – a last minute dash to put enough words on paper to fulfill a page requirement. Although I have spoken to many students about their projects and heard about many fascinating research topics - and admittedly some that seemed exceedingly boring - I have never read a single one.

I doubt whether many law students have ever read any other law students’ papers. In fact, I doubt anyone other than the supervising professor ever reads a student’s paper. It seems an unnecessary waste of talent, work and knowledge. So many intelligent, energetic students putting forth great time and effort to research something that interests them or inspires them and so often sharing it with exactly one person.

It also seems a shame that the product of this academic exercise is so often confined to the ivory tower in which it is created. Unless a student’s paper is done in conjunction with a legal journal, it will likely never be read by anyone other than the supervisor. Even in the case of journals, the audience will likely be limited to a very limited circle of legal academic elites. While an interested professor may applaud a student’s in-depth analysis of the legal problems with our countries educational system, for example, that professor may not be the one that would benefit most from reading it. In most cases students write to an audience that is already more versed in the subject than the student – hence the supervisory role. Many people who might learn most and benefit most from the research will never see it. Shouldn’t more people be able to share in this exercise?

One of the rising criticisms of the legal profession is its exclusionary posture. As a self-regulating profession, most legal discourse never reaches the outside world. This exclusion seems to grow in legal academia. Research papers are written on topics that could benefit all of society – but only one very small segment gets to see it. Perhaps non-lawyers are justly prohibited from practicing law - but should non-law students be similarly prohibited from learning it? It seems that this in this era of open technology, this is an unnecessary and unfortunate isolation and containment of knowledge. Thankfully, the rules for the 3L paper also allow that “[t]he format of the written work, and the sources on which it draws, may vary within a wide range.” (Catalog, p217) This is an attempt, thus, to use technology to pursue a different and more open sort of academic project.

There are many forums where weblogs have made a significant impact. News reporting especially, has seen the power of an open, collaborative process. Leading CNN bureau chiefs have left their posts to write more open and democratic blogs. (See http://www.nkzone.org/nkzone/). In South Korea, “Oh My News,” has pursued the idea of making every citizen a reporter and is widely credited with having significant political impact. (See http://www.ohmynews.com/). A blog, I thought, would be an interesting tool for an academic project as well. Not only would a blog format allow me to work on the project from diverse locations using the internet, but it would create an open and accessible forum to allow reading by diverse people and even possibly encourage participation. Inspired by a law school class discussing various aspects of the role of technology in society, Digital Democracy, this project has aimed to look at the role of technology in an area of personal interest, South America, while encouraging reading, feedback and participation.

When I told other students about my project, many said it sounded like a boondoggle. While some said it was a great idea, others asked how I was “getting away with it.” That has puzzled me – if there is a requirement that learning and work need to be painful and boring, I have not found it anywhere. I realize that supervision of this project has required openness to non-traditional methods. Carrying it out has as well. I have had the opportunity to travel to new and fascinating places and learn from diverse and dispersed sources. I have attempted to write in a style that is easy and open to people outside of law. I have avoided using tedious and confusing legalese, footnotes, and legal citations. Traditional law school classes do an excellent job of Socratic instruction one-on-one between teacher and students. As a modern profession, however, law can benefit from a more open and outward-facing view. While I have benefited immensely from the rigors of classroom legal education, the experience working on this blog has been an equally, if not more, rewarding educational pursuit.

On the other hand, while I have learned more than I hoped, I have no idea whether I have contributed much to any meaningful academic discourse. I hope to have initiated or catalyzed discussions of issues I feel are important and pressing. But even more so I hope to have demonstrated a method of academic exploration that I view as more open and accessible and less pretentious and isolated than the traditional form. My focus on technology in comes from personal fascination, a background in the technology business, and a belief in the power of technology to reshape wide ranging areas of society. My focus on South America came from a desire to learn more about a region previously foreign to me that is dynamic and vibrant but perhaps needs the benefits that can come from technology even more than our own.
There are probably as many areas of passion and interest as there are law students. If I could choose any one thing to come from this project it would be that more of these passions be explored in a way and through a medium that invites viewing, shaping, participation and evaluation form a larger audience. The potential unlocking, sharing, and dissemination of information could be enormous.

To this end I encourage other students reading this to create their own blogs to post their work online. It is easy, quick, and rewarding. Not only will students be able to allow others to share in their work, they will benefit from the feedback and collaboration allowed by commenting. The technology helps blur the distinction between student and teacher. As it should be. For those interested, I used http://www.blogger.com/start. It is owned by Google and allows users to create free, user friendly blogs in “three easy steps.” I also invite any students to post their work as comments or link to it from this site. A fellow third year student recently asked me if he could post a story he had written – he wanted others to be able to read it, but didn’t want to “spam” people in emails they felt obliged to read. The answer is not only yes, but yes please.

When I started law school, my father told me that the most rewarding and fulfilling accomplishment I could aim for would be to get my work published. He added that only very few students can do this – making it the exclusive pride and privilege of the luckiest of law students. While this format may be different than he had in mind I will echo his wise advice about the fulfilling sense of accomplishment. To the privilege of exclusivity, I only add that, in my humble opinion, the honor and pride of education and knowledge is something that could benefit from a move toward inclusiveness.

I have edited some of the comments only for length, not substance. The voices represented are thus not only mine. I extend my deep gratitude to all the people both inside and outside of law school who have been interested in and helped with this project - whether by sharing stories with me, helping me with the research or travel, posting comments, or just reading. Another student and friend recently posted a comment anonymously but sent me an email saying, “I cant believe it. I’m in the library and have now read your whole blog and even commented in order to procrastinate writing my own 3L paper. I though that’s what ESPN.com was for…”

“In conclusion,” I intend that this project will not end when it is “turned in” but rather continue to evolve. Thank you for your help.

I welcome all feedback.

Borges Invented the Internet

Picture from: http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/library_of_babel.html

I wandered down Calle Florida to the café where I was supposed to meet Lorenzo for a quick afternoon bite and an introductory tour of the city. Given that it was my first day in Buenos Aires, I was happy to have a friend of the family as a contact here but also somewhat eager to explore on my own. I walked past the tourist shops selling the mate gourds the gauchos use for drinking their famous beverage of choice, past the music stores spilling the sounds of the tango out onto the street, past the many enterprising young dancers using these sidewalk stages to perform for pesos. I looked down the alleys and streets that forked off in every direction and couldn’t imagine how much time I would need to explore all of this city.

Lorenzo was waiting for me dressed in pants and a sweater vest despite the sweltering heat outside. He sipped his café con leche and looked as if he were contemplating the mysteries of the universe. “What are you most interested in about Buenos Aires?” he asked. Everything, I thought. But was able to explain that, academically, at least, I was interested in the way technology here was influencing culture and society. He asked me if I had read Borges and I embarrassedly replied that I hadn’t. “You must,” he chuckled, “you know - he invented the internet. Come on, lets go to another café.” He led me a few blocks away to Café Tortoni. “Borges used to come here all the time,” he said. “You like coffee?” For the next half hour or so he tried to explain how this greatest of Argentine writers had been both a clairvoyant able to see into the future and past as clearly as if it were the present, and a prescient technophile who foresaw the entire internet revolution. Incredulous but intrigued, I looked forward to having a chance to read the work of this purported sorcerer.

The Garden of Forking Paths

In the collection of eight short stories called “The Garden of the Forking Paths,” Borges presents a dazzling array of fantastical tales. The stories include the title piece as well as seven other self-described “tales of fantasy.” Though smugly stating in his forward that the stories need no explanation, Borges prepares the reader somewhat for the journey when introducing “The Lottery of Babylon” by his tongue-in-cheek admission that it “is not wholly innocent of symbolism.” This understatement is only the beginning of a series of amazing commentaries that left me feeling that Borges not only invented the internet but perhaps had some role in chaos theory and relativity as well. His stories bend time and logic, forcing the reader to abandon traditional linear reading patterns and accept that the ride he is taking us on is purposefully neither cohesive nor sequential. Like the mirrors he places before his characters, his stories seem to create real images that only upon closer inspection reveal their need to be viewed as representations of something else or somehow deconstructed so as to decipher their meaning.

The piece that may have the most obvious relevance to modern technology and the internet is the “Library of Babel.” By hypothesizing an endless library of infinite space that contains all books, Borges sounds remarkably similar to technophiles that wax poetic about the concept of the internet. This unbounded space dedicated to the collection of all knowledge, he muses, must be the handiwork of a god. Borges does not merely present the Library as a positive vision, however. His Library is an immense labyrinth containing all possible permutations of text, whether true, false or simply nonsensical. Likewise, any user of the internet has likely also felt that “for every rational line or forthright statement there are leagues of senseless cacophony, verbal nonsense, and incoherency.” (pg. 114)

Borges further claims that the Library is infinite and that those who imagine that there are limits and that there must be an end somewhere are “absurd.” (pg. 118) This notion of infinite knowledge and resources pervades commentary about the internet and a similar sentiment to Borges can be found in numerous joke websites that have been made that inform the user that he or she has “reached the end of the internet” and must now go back. An example can be seen at: http://www.internetlastpage.com/. In the footnote following the text, Borges comments that the infinite nature of the library need not be thought of strictly in terms of size. By hypothesizing a single book with infinitely thin pages, Borges seems to have predicted the current wave of technological innovation focusing not on expanding bandwidth but rather using existing bandwidth more efficiently by subdividing and maximizing space.

Even the social effects of the Library are remarkably predictive. Like the unbounded joy that all men felt when the Library was announced, the arrival of the internet brought a bubble of optimism and a feeling of endless potential. I felt like Borges was describing Silicon Valley in the late 90’s when he remarked that “[a]ll men felt themselves the possessors of an intact and secret treasure. There was no personal problem, no world problem, whose eloquent solution did not exist – somewhere in some hexagon.” (pg. 115) After an initial delirium where men rushed about trying to unlock the secrets of the universe in the Library, as in the internet bubble, “[t]hat unbridled hopefulness was succeeded, naturally enough, by a similarly disproportionate depression.” (pg. 116) Even his comments on the superstitious belief in the “book-man” can be analogized to the holy grail of artificial intelligence that has long captivated the cyber world.

Perhaps spurred on by Borges’ vision, there have been numerous attempts, many ongoing, to create an internet-based library of books to rival the Library of Babel. In 1995, the US government funded and helped launch the Digital Library Initiative (DLI), a $25 million dollar project to create a pan-cyber library. The Library of Congress, as well, has pushed a National Digital Library (NDL) program with the vision of putting its entire vast collection on line. These attempts, while ambitious, would still of course not equal the infinite expanse of the Library of Babel, but it seems to be a conscious move in that direction. With many predicting a hundred million-fold growth of information on the internet in the next century, we may see something very close to Borges’ Library coming soon to a laptop near you. What will be the effect of this incredible growth of readily accessible knowledge? Will it lead to a blossoming of education and information used for good ends, or will the endless expanse tend to drive people insane and lead to only more disagreements and squabbling as it did in the Library of Babel?

Fascinated by these similarities, I searched the internet and found several other interesting comparisons. As it turns out, Lorenzo was not the first commentator to compare Borges works to internet technology. The “infinite stories, infinitely branching” presented in the invented Herbert Quain book, “April March” were in one article seen as direct predecessors to the HTML links used to lead internet users to endless other pages. In a choose-your-own-adventure environment, no two experiences are alike. Another likened the predicament of sorting out which of a bewildering array of possible paths Steven Albert faces in “The Garden of the Forking Paths” to the task of routers, gateways and packets and the amazingly sophisticated logic that must be used to move information between nodes on the internet. A third likened Borges’ virtual world of “Tlon” to cyberspace and virtual reality, and their increasing grip on the minds and imaginations of normal people.

Most commentary analogizing Borges’ writing to the internet seems to take a positive stance. Celebrating the amazing technology of the internet and deifying Borges for predicting it seems to miss the point. Borges presents a fantastic tale ripe with foresight, but also a clear warning about the dangers this technology will bring. Besides the insanity that an endless supply of knowledge will bring, Borges alerts us to the danger of blind worship of technology as well by the claim that “young people prostrate themselves before books and like savages kiss their pages, though they cannot read a letter.” (pg. 118) Borges goes as far as to surmise that the effects of the Library may drive the human species to extinction, while the Library endures. This warning rings of the sci-fi tales where computers and machines take control and eventually kill the humans off. Similarly in “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Terius,” the virtual world created by men eventually overtakes the real world and erodes peoples ability to tell real from imaginary. Borges seems to offer hope as well, however. He reminds us that this virtual world we are getting lost in is “the rigor of chess masters, not of angels.” He ends “The Library of Babylon” with a the “elegant hope” that humans will understand that there is an order to the endlessness and not subjugate humanity in the fascination with the seemingly infinite promise of the Library. Likewise, we should remember that while the internet and modern communications technologies have wondrous potential, we must keep an eye on humanity and never let our desire to modernize blind us to the harmful effects of that modernization.

If the Internet is a Latin American Creation, Why is it not a Latin American Phenomenon?

Had Borges invented the Internet, he would probably be disappointed by the role it is playing in his home region of Latin America. At the turn of this century, only 1.5 percent of Latin Americans used the Internet – a number composing only 3.2 percent of the worlds users. Part of this is due to the dominance of English language sites on the web. Only one or two percent of all web content is in Spanish, while over 70 percent is in English. These figures are changing rapidly but does still not reflect the fact that more non-native than native English speakers are now online.

Furthermore, internet usage patterns differ between Latin Americans and their North American counterparts. While e-commerce is already having a significant effect in the overall North American economy, it has largely failed to achieve traction in Latin America. This is due somewhat to the fact that many users in Latin America use shared or public computers – because they are not at home, they are less likely to participate in auctions that require repeated checking over time, and less likely to realize any convenience value from “shopping from home.” The consumer patterns will change as more homes get wired, and is already becoming a significant business to business phenomenon. The one area where there may be hope is in promoting shared computers in schools for education. While homes will be slow to adopt, if attention can be directed towards wiring schools, many young people will be able to benefit from the positive aspects (and maybe avoid some of the negative or worthless uses.)

The largest barriers to Latin American use are the costs of machinery and connections. These costs are relatively much higher in Latin America, where communications infrastructure is lacking and there are few local tech manufacturers. Most households are still too poor to have a computer. While public and shared computers are great for email and recreation, they are less likely to become a permanent fixture providing education, or information on daily needs such as health advice. The high costs ensure that the small percentage that is able to get computers and get online are the ones that are already rich. With gaps between rich and poor already alarmingly large, this added distancing should cause some distress. The reliance on foreign aid to acquire and install new technologies leverages developing economies and endangers their stability.

While internet usage is increasing rapidly in Latin America, the patterns of usage are problematic. Regional governments should pay careful attention to make sure that the beneficial aspects of the internet are promoted and available to all. The Library of Babel should not be open only to the richest segments of society (those who least need the opportunities it would present) but to everyone. If new technologies only widen the existing gaps between rich and poor, they may not be the answer. Governments should also not allow themselves to be pressured by outside forces to adopt and promote technologies at the expense of other more pressing needs. Technology is a powerful tool, but it is just a tool, not a solution in itself.

So Did Borges Invent the Internet?

While Lorenzo’s claim that Borges invented the internet may initially be as laughable as Al Gore’s claim, the foresight is remarkable. Like many inventors, Borges would probably have grave concerns over the effects of their inventions on society. He would likely be deeply worried about widening quality of life gaps in the developing world and the role technology may be playing in widening them. If he knew what people were using the Library for, Borges would probably be turning in his grave. Nevertheless, we should remember that despite all the analogies and similarities we can draw, Borges writings have more to do with the social and philosophical implications of technology than they do with any actual insight into how to create technology. Not only was Borges writing before the technical sophistication existed to make the modern internet, he offers no instructions on how his self proclaimed fantasies could actually be created in the real world.

But perhaps Lorenzo was right. Those who claim that Borges’ stories were written well before the technology was developed to make the internet possible may be clutching to a linear and distractingly sequential vision of time. And like Borges explains nicely, the answer to a riddle is the one word that cannot be directly used. While the surface mystery in the “Garden of the Forking Paths” led us to the clever solution using the name “Albert,” Borges gives us this directly. We can only be left wondering if there is some further riddle to be uncovered, some key word he left out. I suppose I would not be surprised to see Borges smirk if we could resurrect him and ask, with all the similarities and analogies, why didn’t he just come out and say … Internet…?

Should this guy be scared of technology?

Capuchin Monkey, Costa Rica

While most of this blog has been about the way technology is impacting human society, it may also be relevant to inquire how technology is impacting the rest of life on our small planet. With one of the world's most dense and important reserves of biodiversity, Costa Rica is an excellent place to start. While I was in Costa Rica an ecotourism guide told me that technology and modernization were wiping out the flora and fauna that make this beautiful coast so rich. Clearly, we would think, the march of human modernization is taxing the natural habitat of other species. Some aspects of technology and modernization may be pushing in the other direction, however.

The National Biodiversity Institute (Inbio) of Costa Rica is using information techonology to create a catalogue database of Costa Rica's species in an attempt to protect them from the risks of traditional industries such as farming and logging. By using technology to make information about biodiversity available in an organized format on a global level this project is expected to help teachers, legislators, and biologists.

Read more about the project here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2794535.stm

So, while this little monkey may have no idea, technology may be being used in a way that will end up helping him.

A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships

I held on to the hand grips as the 4X4 bounced down what they insisted was a road. As nice as he was, I felt myself wishing that my middle aged Costa Rican driver would stop turning around to explain things to me and start keeping his eyes on the path ahead. Next to the driver, his 7 year old son , Javi, smiled as the truck approached a section of road flooded over by a stream. As I wondered how long it would take to find another route, the driver plunged ahead, seemingly willing the truck to push through water that came over the bottom of the doors. As we roared up the next hill and careened around a sheer drop off the driver slammed the brakes and brought the car to a precarious rest on the edge of a hill surrounded by thick jungle. I looked down to the drop below, but Javi pointed up to the trees. “Monos!” he said excitedly. I looked up to see a tree full of howler monkeys swinging from branch to branch. They announced their territory with a deep bellowing roar that made them seem much larger than they were. I asked my driver if they were dangerous. “No,” he explained laughing, “but they have been known to urinate on travelers, so watch out.” I made a mental note to watch my head and marveled to myself why people even bothered to organize expensive outdoor “adventure travel” excursions. I was in a taxi.

With an incredible diversity of plant and animal life, pristine beaches offering clear warm waves, and roughly 25% of its territory protected as national parks, Costa Rica is a veritable ecotourism Mecca for travelers from all over the world. In 2001, the tourism industry generated over $1.2 billion in revenues, attracting over a million visitors and establishing itself as the most significant contributor to the country’s economy. Traditionally based on the agricultural staples of coffee and bananas, because of tourism Costa Rica’s economy is now outpacing those of its Central American neighbors. With a history of protecting its environmental wealth, the government has used caution in allowing exploitation of natural resources. Technology is also increasingly playing a role in the economy, the government recently welcomed Intel as the giant opened up two large chip plants.

In some ways, technology and tourism are marching ahead together. Internet cafes abound, and it seems that many serve as one stop traveler service stations. Upon arriving in a town one usually needs to look no further than the local internet café to find out what is happening, grab a bite to eat, and check email while sipping on some famous Costa Rican coffee.

It was in an internet café that I was able to find a pamphlet for the SUV taxi ride that took me on a tour through the jungle down the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula that juts out from the Pacific coast. Later, I wanted to get from the small surf town at the bottom of the peninsula back to the mainland without backtracking over the slow roads. A traveler told me he had “heard” on the internet of a boat that could cross the channel directly to the other side in a quick but choppy 1.5 hour ride. I visited a small café and was able to organize the boat ride online for the next morning. A couple more clicks and I was able to find, purchase and print tickets for the little propeller airplane that would take me back to San Jose from the small town where I was headed. I marveled at how easy it was to travel in Costa Rica compared to so many other countries. Almost everything I needed I could get at these cafes. Despite having worked to learn Spanish, it seemed I almost never had to talk to anyone.

Many of the internet cafes are run by US expats. In fact, it seems that a large segment of the tourism-related businesses are run by expats. From quaint bed and breakfasts to Best Western chains, from banana pancake hippie cafes to expensive seafood and steak houses, I repeatedly found that when you scratched the surface of a Costa Rican business you would find a Norte Americano. Almost all the menus I saw had English translations. Some didn’t even have Spanish.

From the time I arrived in airport, I was served a barrage of glossy tourism-related advertisements. People zipping happily over the jungle canopy. Gringos basking on beaches with sand even whiter than their skin. Compared to other less-developed economies, it seems that tourism has shone on the economy like the warm sun that tans the visitors. However, I am led to ask to what extent does this thriving tourism business help the local people? Tourism has surely boosted the economy but it seems that foreigners are reaping much of the rewards. Is this a case of trickle-down economics? Are the locals somewhere at the bottom level of a multi-layered economy? If so I wonder if, like in the dense rainforest covering much of their land, those who dwell at the ground level see very little of the sunlight covering the top canopy.

Javi and his dad spend their days taxiing tourists between towns on the Nicoya Peninsula. Smiling, laughing and pointing things out in Spanish, they seemed to me poster children for the trickle down effect. We stopped at one point for a rest and they made cheese sandwiches and ate bananas while white-faced capuchin monkeys looked on eagerly from the side of the road. They explained to me that feeding the monkeys could transmit human diseases, interrupt natural eating habits and lead the monkeys to bravely and unwisely approach humans and cars. They said that in Costa Rica, the monkeys and the people both enjoyed “pura vida.” A pure and natural life. My boat driver as well smiled proudly as he pointed out dolphins and ten-foot stingrays that were actually jumping out of the water next to our boat. "I get to see them everyday," he boasted. It seems that while foreign people, and especially Americans, are organizing and controlling much of the industry, locals as well are sharing in the opportunities created. Despite my cynicism, I figure that compared to their jobless and impoverished Latin American neighbors in other Central and South American countries, the Costa Rican ticos are indeed being lifted by the rising tide of tourism and technology.

La Barra, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Does the Goddess of Technology Speak Portugese?

Florianopolis, Brazil

For the first time this trip, there is not an internet cafe within a stone's throw of my hotel. The helpful manager told me there was one - over the hill and towards Juaqina beach. I set off on the half hour trek and wished I had brought my camera. Off the southern coast of Brazil, on a small island surrounded by over 40 beaches and dotted in the middle with lakes, lush green mountains and huge sugar-white sand dunes, Floripanópolis has got to be the most amazingly beautiful place I had never heard of before last week. I couldnt help but climb up the side of one of these giant dunes on the way to the cafe and was treated to the sight of a dozen or so Brazillian kids "sandboarding" down the opposite side. The sand was so fine and white it felt like hot soft talcum between my toes. I would have sworn they were snowboarding on fresh powder - had they not been shirtless and shoeless - their trademark flip flops left on the top of the crest as they strapped into their green and yellow boards and glided down laughing. After hiking back up one ran over to me with a warm smile and offered the board in my direction as if asking me if I wanted to try. I spent the next 45 minutes giggling, gliding, and tumbling down this mountain of shimmering sand in the middle of paradise with new friends - with whom I could barely communicate.

Back on the road, I walked past skinny stray dogs and equally skinny kids spilling out of the favelas and picking through trash together looking for food. I would have missed the internet cafe had I not spotted the small sign nailed to the trunk of a tree. The 'cafe' was in an industrious local's garage and had been transformed into a woking broadband technology center with 6 computers. Fernando worked the desk and was the technological wizard - his mom made coffee and fresh acaí fruit cups in the back. I enjoyed one mixed with banana and guaraná while I waited for a machine to open up. The cafe was bustling and by the furnishings I could see in their house, it looked as if the family had been able to achieve a modest level of elevated wealth. When I was able to get a terminal, I clicked on the universal icon for Microsoft's Internet Explorer and saw the familiar homepage of MSN pop up - but in Portugese. Complete with localized information, today it featured an article with health tips for keeping your body 'beach ready' for summer. It seems that even in these remote corners of South America, the march of technology is advancing - under the flag of large American corporations such as Microsoft.

In 1971, the Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano published the amazing book "Open Veins of Latin America." Subtitled "five centuries of the pillage of a continent," he offers a history of Latin America in writing that flows as smoothly as a bossa nova melody yet delivers a leftist critique every bit as biting and incisive as his prose is suave. He argues that capitalist powers have continually exploited Latin America from the lust for gold and silver that led Spain and Portugal to mine the regions bountiful mountains to the US-dominated multinational enterprises that today continue to export profits while capitalizing on the cheap and abundant labor.

Underdevelopment, he argues, is not a stage of development, but rather its necessary consequence. By feeding and nourishing external development, Latin America locks itself into servitude and impotence. And it has been going on for centuries. In a chapter entitled, "The Goddess Technology doesn't Speak Spanish," he charges that the technological development promoted and advanced by capitalist countires only deepens the dependence of the countries of the region, making them ever more subservient, indebted and controlled by foreign powers. The liberal international system fosters and promotes this agenda, in the name of free trade.

After using protectionism for ages in order to achieve its current state of elevated power, the US now preaches the religion of free trade and rule of law in order to ensure the unfettered ability of its corporations to increase profits through exploitation. The rule of law is often cited in the liberal press and academia as the most necessary element needed to save and modernize the region. The rule of law demands that equal and fair treatment prevail. But what really is delivered? Anatole France aptly pondered that Law - in all its majestic equality - forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets and stealing bread. Perhaps he should have added copying technology or stealing copyrights.

As if falling into its assigned and legally protected role, in technology as well as previous exercises in externally dominated development, Latin America generously supplies the raw materials and the cheap labor - the profits, however, are almost completely reserved for export. Loans to help promote technological advancement are recieved with assurances that foreign companies - with their momentum and strength - will not be 'unfairly discriminated' against in the allocation of the fruits of development. The transplantation of advanced countries' technology, Galeano argues, is a process of cultural and economic subordination. He claims it also has been shown, after five centuries of creating modernized oases amid deserts of backwardness and ignorance, to resolve none of the problems of underdevelopment. Here in this cafe in the middle of the sand dunes, in this oasis of technology amid a sea of poverty, is foreign technology carrying out its alleged criminal agenda?

In 1970, Galeano was not aware of the current technological advancements in communications technologies. In the 21st century, the internet has been touted by technophiles as a panacea for the world's ills. By breaking down borders of geography and barriers of communication, it is paving the way for greater prosperity for all. One wonders whether this is just another sugar coating for the most recent wave of imperalist exploitation. Who is benefitting from this technological modernization? Is it Fernando and his mom with their garage cafe? Or is it Microsoft, delivering slick local Brazillian content while efficiently exporting the profits and filling the pockets of the world's richest people? Dell? Intel?? As I leave the cafe and walk past the countless skinny dogs and kids from the favelas, I am left wondering.

I'll be MSN you...

The sun was literally baking me. Having devoured yet another 3 dollar steak for lunch and now sitting on the beach under an unwavering heat lamp I felt like I was turning into an empanada. Warm and crispy on the outside and filled with juicy meat on the inside. I had to find some shade. This beach – like the others in this endless line of white sand around a point on the southern coast of Uruguay - was filled for the summer with wealthy vacationers from Uruguay and Argentina. Paradores, or beach huts, were ubiquitous and served up food, drinks, and thankfully, umbrellas to the beachcombers. I sat down under one and ordered an Iguana beer. I doubt anything has tasted so refreshing in the history of human consumption.

I was sitting with another guy I had met. Somewhat surprised to find an American in an area so dominated by Argentines, I was somewhat happy to be speaking in English again. As we nursed a couple of Iguanas, Jason was telling me about his exploits here in Latin America. Studying abroad for a semester while in college, he seemed to fancy himself a new age conquistador. Modeling himself on a Vince Vaughn character out of swingers, he graced me with countless tales of how “money” he was with the “babies” down here. His stories were interrupted frequently as he stared at someone walking by. “Wow, holy shit, um DUDE did you see her? Wait, where was I?...” It was 4:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday and the beach was filling up. While the sun would be setting in Boston it was still high in the sky here. Young people had probably been sleeping all morning after a late night at the discos. They tend to go all night and I informed that it was “social suicide” to ever arrive before 2am. Jason was a bit of an expert. “I was at Mint last night. I was so hammered. It was so cool. And Money!”

As his endless boasts continued, and one unnecessarily loud and graphic story unfolded, I started feeling embarrassed. I wondered whether he had ever actually talked to a woman. I could see that a girl at the table behind him was watching us. She was sitting alone and was not shy about making eye contact. At one point she smiled at me and Jason noticed me looking past him. Swinging around, he gave her a once over and turned back. “DUDE, she is HOT. Was she looking at us?” I hoped she didn’t understand English and started feeling somewhat embarrassed to be seen with this guy. “DUDE, she was totally looking” he panted, “I’m gonna invite her over here.” He then seemed to look me over and gave me what he likely considered a grand compliment. “You know, Brad, you aren’t so bad looking, and in decent shape still, I bet you could score here.”

Before I could say anything, he invited her over and started asking some questions in broken Spanish. “I speak English,” she offered. And with a bit of a smirk, “and I have a boyfriend.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But I’ll join you for a beer if its ok.” Jason seemed befuddled and sat there as if somewhat deflated, so I said of course and pulled up a chair. As she collected her things, he looked at me as if I had betrayed the team. “DUDE, that was dumb, now the babies are gonna think we are taken. I think I will go back down to the beach. She likes you anyway. Come find me when you are done.”

I may have betrayed the team but as he fumbled awkwardly with some money to give me and she gracefully sat down with a smile, I felt I had somehow gotten the best end of this trade. “I hope I wasn’t stopping the party,” she said in clear but heavily accented English, “but you looked like you might need my rescue.” I ordered another beer and asked how she knew English. “I studied my whole life … and my boyfriend is in New York.” I told her of course, I did need saving, and almost forgot that Jason was the one who initiated this. She acted as if she masterminded the whole thing. Soledad was from Argentina, north of Buenos Aires and now worked in the city. She had her dark hair cut in the current fashion with bangs over her eyes and long, unkempt waves down the back. She wore huge oversize avaiator sunglasses and seemed to have practiced her pouty face from glamour magazines. Like so many Argentines, she had vacation in January and descended on these fashionable beaches. “Punta del Este,” she explained, “is like the Hamptons for people from Buenos Aires.”

“I was chatting on the computer before, but then I heard you guys speaking English and wanted to meet you. I hope it was ok that I sat down – I miss speaking English.” I looked to the corner of the parador and saw a lone computer with a sign above it saying INTERNET and charging about a dollar per hour of use. “Don’t you talk to your boyfriend?” I asked. “Not much,” she frowned, “Maybe not for a month or two. Its way too expensive to call. But we chat on MSN messenger every day.” She went on to explain that she dreamed of one day moving to the states and starting a travel company sending tours to South America. “American people would love it here if they knew where to go.” I looked out at the waves rolling while the music played on the speakers and everyone mingled in a continual state of social interaction. I had to agree. Everywhere people were laughing, smoking cigarettes and passing around cups of yerba mate. It seemed strange to me that someone from here would idealize life in New York. She had had another boyfriend from America in college, she explained, but it didn’t work out because she never saw him after he left. “Messenger changes everything,” she told me, “because now I can know what is happening in his life. It is like he is so close. I just ... cant see him."

One café where I live has voice chat also – that is so great when it works.” It seems that in some ways the idea of the internet shrinking the world is true. People like Soledad in Argentina and her boyfriend in New York are now are communicating daily across vast distances and yet somehow still feel close. They feel that the real-time interaction allows a very different connection and closeness than even email and allows for the feeling of conversations at an affordable price. And they are not alone. She told me that many young people here use internet chat, or messaging, to communicate, even within the country. Its informal, casual structure is great for keeping in touch with all your friends. And of the services available? “Everyone uses MSN, although I think there are others.”

I have since noticed that this is true. In the internet cafés, usually over half the people using the machines are chatting on MSN. They are sipping café con leche and giggling at the little emoticons being sent back and forth. Some cafes do have voice chatting and it is somewhat funny to hear blurbs of conversation erupting intermittently from some computers. It is also not just for fun. At a local travel agent in Buenos Aires I asked if she could get deals on hotels in Brazil. After a couple minutes of MSN chat back and forth with a tour operator in Brazil she had found me a cheap hotel on the beach for under 30 dollars a night. I looked at the screen amazed. “Muchas gracias, besos” she had written … and a small yellow smiley face. “I want to go to New York,” Soledad sighed and pouted from behind her huge glasses. “People are so much fashion and exciting. But here is good too, I come every year. Its too bad it is so far for you guys.” We had finished our Iguanas and passed two hours in the parador. The sun was still high in the sky and the beach was full at almost 7pm. People were swimming and splashing, meeting each other and flirting, making plans for late night parties at discos and enjoying their summer. Soon, the masses of vacationers would recede and most would head back to their jobs or schools in Argentina. Most would probably spend the off season keeping in touch by MSN messenger, I thought, until next year when they all come back, donning their designer sunglasses of the moment, and start the fiesta again.

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Bridging Borders?

It seemed like I was standing on the top of the world. Before me, sloping down from the mountains and spreading west toward the horizon in a haze was my first glimpse of Chile. Behind me, a rusty metal sign was bolted into the rock announcing the eastward expanse of Argentina. The road from Mendoza was a spectacularly winding ascent that left the vineyards of the lowlands and the green foothills of the Andes in the distance as it clung to the sides of ever growing mountains. Right before the border we passed the highest mountain outside of the Himalaya, Mt. Aconcagua. At nearly 7000 meters, its peak was covered in snow in the middle of summer. The air got remarkably colder as we reached the Chilean border. Despite the signs marking the territory of these countries, all I could see in any direction, however, were mountains.

Despite sharing the longest border in South America, the trade between Argentina and Chile is remarkably low. Recently only around 6% of Argentina’s exports and 4% of her imports have been with Chile. While there are several reasons for this lack of neighborly exchange, a prominent one is the enormous Andean mountain range that divides these two countries. As trade has traditionally depended on transportation, the difficulties posed by this geological wall have kept transportation to a minimum. The high pass I was standing on was watched over by a huge statue of Christ with a cross clutched in his left arm and his right lifted high into the thin air. There was an abandoned old car, a coffee shop and a few people taking pictures. Despite being one of the most important passes between Argentina and Chile, however, noticeably missing is any railroad link. Today, as trade in information is growing, bits and bytes can zoom across mountains, seas and plains. Even the mighty Aconcagua is unable to stop this digital traffic. From its inception, the internet has prompted people to claim that borders were being erased. People in one land can, in moments, be connected with other people in distant places they have never stepped foot in. Through the magic that is technology, people are supposedly being brought closer together.

But is technology really bringing people closer together? Is it really taking down borders and uniting people from different places and cultures? Or in some way is this technology facilitating the building of virtual barriers? In “The Daily We,” Cass Sunstein warned of the dangers of personalization through technology. (http://www.bostonreview.net/BR26.3/sunstein.html) While offering the promise of transcending limits of geography, the Internet has in many ways had the opposite effect. People now can personalize their music, their news, their entertainment options and even their network of friends. People can choose what and who they want included in their virtual universe – and likewise what and who they don’t. This creates a phenomenon of specialization and fragmentation, he argues, that can be just as dangerous as it is beneficial. While people may have the technology to unite, they are using it to post signs saying, essentially, keep out. Now the American in Idaho can make sure he gets news relevant to his life – he need not be bothered by reports of what is going on in other parts of the world. The Canadian in an internet café in Buenos Aires can sip cappuccinos while chatting with her friends back home about the tango she watched – she need not worry about trying to meet people in the strange country she is visiting. And the Chilean LLM student at Harvard Law School can be comforted by his virtual friendster network of Chilean friends across the globe. It seems a natural consequence of personalization that people will choose to surround themselves with the familiar and comfortable, rather than using the opportunity to reach out across borders and barriers to diversify. Sunstein calls this “group polarization.”

Perhaps, then, what is happening is that this technology is creating borders rather than destroying them. By polarizing groups and allowing people to tailor their surroundings the internet may be pulling diverse people apart rather than together.