Demarcating a Pure Land

CFido as a Cyberspace for Computer Amateurs in 1990s China

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3487542
AutoresWen-Ching Sung (Film Independent), Chen-Pang Yeang, Chen‐pang Yeang (0000-0002-5800-3760, University of Toronto), Zhixiang Cheng (0009-0003-6936-6748, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Ano2024
Volume115
Fascículo2
Páginas267-291
Data de publicação2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoIsis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/730229
OpenAlexW4398133488
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas16

The bulletin board system (BBS) significantly changed the production and transmission of knowledge in China’s information technology (IT). Launched in 1991, Chinese FidoNet (CFido) provided a virtual space for hobbyists to explore technology-for-fun and aggregated many future Chinese digital entrepreneurs, enabling them to experiment with business models and pursue open-source software with Chinese characters. CFido’s short history (1991–1998) also encapsulates the fast-changing dynamic between knowledge and its social context. CFido participants first perceived the BBS as a utopian “pure land” where grassroots intellectuals could develop software and digital technologies, free from outside interests and interventions. Yet the beginning of government control of cyberspace, the boom of the IT industry and e-commerce, and the transition from the dial-up BBS to the Internet led the CFidoers to diverging positions about amateurs and ultimately brought CFido to an end

Archaeology · China · Cyberspace · Geography · Pure land · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media