[e2e] a means to an end

David P. Reed dpreed at reed.com
Wed Nov 12 12:33:11 PST 2008


It is fundamentally wrong to say that *information* exists at a place.   
Storage exists at a place.

A bit of information is fundamentally distinct in category and reality 
from a bit of storage.  Only computer scientists are so confused and 
deluded as to think that information and storage container are the same 
thing.

Joe Touch wrote:
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> Craig Partridge wrote:
> ...
>   
>> So let me try restating what I took from chatting with Van (with the
>> understanding that this is my take, not necessarily Van's).
>>
>>     * Information is place free.
>>     
>
> This doesn't make sense. Information exists at a place - perhaps, as in
> the case of "majority of X", in more than one place, or in an area, but
> regardless it always exists somewhere.
>
>   
>>     * Actually accessing that information, in the worst case, requires
>>       a rendezvous point (if it is popular data, it doesn't -- someone
>>       near you will have a copy -- but information that is of only occasional
>>       interest requires more effort).
>>     
>
> Accessing the information requires getting to the information;
> rendezvous points are just places the information has either agreed to
> move to, or places that agree to forward the request to the information.
> They're otherwise uninteresting in this discussion - ultimately, the
> information exits somewhere, and a request needs to meet up with it to
> be useful.
>
> Joe
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