"Every Home Is Wired": 2 -- The Progressive Rock Subculture and the Net

"Every Home Is Wired":
2 -- The Progressive Rock Subculture and the Net

Of course, one apparent exception to the similarities between the Prog and Internet subcultures is that Progressive Rock is a particularly British genre, originally, while the Net is founded on principles of freedom of speech and egalitarianism most strongly expressed in the USA. However, Prog, too, came into its own only with the move to the U.S., and has also had greater staying power as a subcultural community there, due to the work of fanzine and college radio operators -- today, an influential part of the Prog community resides in the U.S.	Bit 49
Both Progressive Rock's and the Internet's origins are also strongly linked to the counterculture: for Prog this has already been described at length; for the Internet, despite its ultimately military origins, its design as a medium that is automatically circumventing attempts to limit the free flow of information immediately made it a medium well suited for libertarian and alternative uses. Partly due to the centring of much of computer technology development on the U.S. west coast, many early users of CMC were involved in hippie culture, too, and brought their ideas of a political, economic, and spiritual transformation of society to the emerging computer networks -- the much-publicised community of the WELL is just one example. A result of this stance is a critical view of 'big business' and other forms of the societal establishment by both Prog and Internet subcultures. In all, "online systems attract independent-minded people. People who think for themselves and many people who work for themselves" (Coate, n. pag.); this is equally true for many forms of Prog today. Another legacy of the counterculture is a strong interest in non-Western thought; this is often combined with the use of drugs and forms of meditation, to 'expand the mind'.²⁹ Similar connections can be made especially among the computer programming scene: demo programmers, in particular, are often working with drug-enhanced audiences in mind.	Bit 50

Of course, one apparent exception to the similarities between the Prog and Internet subcultures is that Progressive Rock is a particularly British genre, originally, while the Net is founded on principles of freedom of speech and egalitarianism most strongly expressed in the USA. However, Prog, too, came into its own only with the move to the U.S., and has also had greater staying power as a subcultural community there, due to the work of fanzine and college radio operators -- today, an influential part of the Prog community resides in the U.S.

Bit 49

Both Progressive Rock's and the Internet's origins are also strongly linked to the counterculture: for Prog this has already been described at length; for the Internet, despite its ultimately military origins, its design as a medium that is automatically circumventing attempts to limit the free flow of information immediately made it a medium well suited for libertarian and alternative uses. Partly due to the centring of much of computer technology development on the U.S. west coast, many early users of CMC were involved in hippie culture, too, and brought their ideas of a political, economic, and spiritual transformation of society to the emerging computer networks -- the much-publicised community of the WELL is just one example. A result of this stance is a critical view of 'big business' and other forms of the societal establishment by both Prog and Internet subcultures. In all, "online systems attract independent-minded people. People who think for themselves and many people who work for themselves" (Coate, n. pag.); this is equally true for many forms of Prog today. Another legacy of the counterculture is a strong interest in non-Western thought; this is often combined with the use of drugs and forms of meditation, to 'expand the mind'.²⁹ Similar connections can be made especially among the computer programming scene: demo programmers, in particular, are often working with drug-enhanced audiences in mind.

Bit 50

Section 2 -- Go on to Bite:

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