You sit in front of your TV set and the only power you
have is in your hand -- the power turn to it on or off.
You have no power, however, to control what and when
a commercial flashes on your TV screen. Therefore,
when a commercial comes on, it breaks up the flow of
your program -- it is intrusive -- it's an uninvited guest.
The net isn't an intrusive medium, it's selective. There
are no flickering lights to seduce you to visit a site.
Hence the cyberenvironment is different from the tv
environment. Since the net is unobtrusive, it creates
a calm state of interactivity. Any disturbance will be
met with hostility. Imagine sitting on the edge of the
water, when suddenly someone throws a rock and
disturbs the flow of the stream. Yuck!
On the net, a badly thought out message can
have an equally devastating effect.
Copyright Cyclops Communications, Inc. 1999