Online and offline
The terms "online" and "offline" (also stylized as "on-line" and "off-line") have specific meanings in regard to computer technology and telecommunications. In general, "online" indicates a state of connectivity, while "offline" indicates a disconnected state.
The concepts have however been extended from their computing and telecommunication meanings into the area of human interaction and conversation, such that even offline can be used in contrast to the common usage of online. For example, discussions taking place during a business meeting are "online", while issues that do not concern all participants of the meeting should be "taken offline" — continued outside of the meeting.
Standard definitions
In computer technology and telecommunication, online and offline are
defined by Federal Standard
1037C. They are states or conditions of a "device or
equipment" or of a "functional unit". To be considered
online, one of the following must apply to a device:
·
Under the direct control of another device
·
Under the direct control of the system with which it is associated
·
Available for immediate use on demand by the system without human
intervention
·
Connected to a system, and is in operation
·
Functional and ready for service
In contrast, a device that is offline
meets none of these criteria (e.g., its main power source is disconnected or
turned off, or it is off-power).
Offline mail
One example of a common use of these
concepts is a mail user agent that
can be instructed to be in either online or offline states. One such MUA is Microsoft Outlook. When online it will attempt
to connect to mail servers (to check for new mail at regular intervals, for
example), and when offline it will not attempt to make any such connection. The
online or offline state of the MUA does not necessarily reflect the connection
status between the computer on which it is running and the Internet. That is, the computer itself may be
online—connected to Internet via a cable modem or other means—while Outlook
is kept offline by the user, so that it makes no attempt to send or to receive
messages. Similarly, a computer may be configured to employ a dial-up connection on
demand (as when an application such as Outlook attempts to make connection to a
server), but the user may not wish for Outlook to trigger that call whenever it
is configured to check for mail.[1]
Offline media playing
Another example of the use of these
concepts is digital audio technology.
A tape recorder, digital audio or, or other device that is online
is one whose clock is under the control of the clock of a synchronization
master device. When the sync master commences playback, the online device
automatically synchronizes itself to the master and commences playing from the
same point in the recording. A device that is offline uses no external clock
reference and relies upon its own internal clock. When a large number of
devices are connected to a sync master it is often convenient, if one wants to
hear just the output of one single device, to take it offline because, if the
device is played back online, all synchronized devices have to locate the
playback point and wait for each other device to be in synchronization.[2] (For related discussion, see MIDI timecode, word sync, and recording system
synchronization.)
Offline browsing
A third example of a common use of these
concepts is a web browser that
can be instructed to be in either online or offline states. The browser
attempts to fetch pages from servers while only in the online state. In the
offline state, users can perform offline browsing, where pages can
be browsed using local copies of those pages that have previously been
downloaded while in the on-line state. This can be useful when the computer is
offline and connection to the Internet is impossible or undesirable. The pages
are downloaded either implicitly into the web browser's owncache as a result of prior online
browsing by the user or explicitly by a browser configured to keep local copies
of certain web pages, which are updated when the browser is in the online
state, either by checking that the local copies are up-to-date at regular
intervals or by checking that the local copies are up-to-date whenever the
browser is switched to the on-line state. One such web browser capable of being
explicitly configured to download pages for offline browsing is Internet Explorer. When pages are added to the
Favourites list, they can be marked to be "available for offline
browsing". Internet Explorer will download to local copies both the marked
page and, optionally, all of the pages that it links to. In Internet Explorer
version 6, the level of direct and indirect links, the maximum amount of local
disc space allowed to be consumed, and the schedule on which local copies are
checked to see whether they are up-to-date, are configurable for each
individual Favourites entry.[3][4][5][6]
For communities that lack adequate
Internet connectivity—like developing countries, rural areas, and
prisons—off-line information stores like the eGranary Digital Library (a collection of
approximately 30 million educational resources from more than 2,000 Web sites
and hundreds of CD-ROMs) provide off-line access to information. Numerous
organizations have developed, or are developing, flash memory chips with
collections of educational materials for off-line use in smartphones, tablets,
and laptops.
Others
Likewise, offline storage is computer data storage that
is not "available for immediate use on demand by the system without human
intervention." Additionally, an otherwise online system that is powered
down is considered offline.[7]
Generalizations
Online and offline distinctions have been
generalized from computing and telecommunication into the field of human
interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered online
and what is considered offline has become a subject of study in the field of sociology.[8]
The distinction between online and offline
is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer-mediated
communication and face-to-face communication (e.g., face time), respectively. Online is virtuality
or cyberspace, and offline is reality (i.e., Real life or meatspace). Slater states that this
distinction is "obviously far too simple".[8] To support his argument that
the distinctions in relationships are more complex than a simple online/offline
dichotomy, he observes that some people draw no distinction between an on-line
relationship, such as indulging in cybersex, and an offline relationship, such as
being pen pals. He also argues that even the telephone can be regarded as an online
experience in some circumstances, and that the blurring of the distinctions
between the uses of various technologies (such as PDA and mobile phone, internet television and Internet, and telephone and Voice over
Internet Protocol) has made it "impossible to use the term on-line meaningfully
in the sense that was employed by the first generation of Internet
research".[8]
Slater asserts that there are legal and
regulatory pressures to reduce the distinction between online and offline, with
a "general tendency to assimilate online to offline and erase the
distinction," stressing, however, that this does not mean that online
relationships are being reduced to pre-existing offline
relationships. He conjectures that greater legal status may be assigned to
online relationships (pointing out that contractual relationships, such as
business transactions, online are already seen as just as "real" as
their offline counterparts), although he states it to be hard to imagine courts
awarding palimony to people who have had a purely
online sexual relationship. He also conjectures that an online/offline
distinction may be seen by people as "rather quaint and not quite
comprehensible" within 10 years.[8]
This distinction between online and offline is
sometimes inverted, with online concepts being used to define and to explain
offline activities, rather than (as per the conventions of the desktop metaphor with its desktops, trash
cans, folders, and so forth) the other way around. Several cartoons appearing
in The New Yorker have
satirized this. One includes Saint Peter asking for a username and a
password before admitting a man into Heaven. Another illustrates "the
off-line store" where "All items are actual size!" shoppers may
"Take it home as soon as you pay for it!" and "Merchandise may
be handled prior to purchase!"[9][10]
References
1. ^ Bill Mann (2003). How to Do
Everything with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. McGraw-Hill Professional.
pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-07-223070-3.
2. ^ Bill Gibson (1998). Audiopro
Home Recording Course: A Comprehensive Multimedia Audio Recording Text. Hal
Leonard. pp. 155. ISBN 0-87288-715-4.
3. ^ Arabella Dymoke (2004). "an a
to z of internet terms". Good Web Guide. The Good Web Guide
Ltd. pp. 17. ISBN 1-903282-46-2.
4. ^ Paul Heltzel (2002). "Wireless
Road Tricks". The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wireless Computing and
Networking. Alpha Books. pp. 205. ISBN 0-02-864287-2.
5. ^ Glen Waller and Vanessa Waller
(2000). The Internet Companion: The Easy Australian Guide. UNSW
Press. pp. 110–112. ISBN 0-86840-499-3.
6. ^ Brian Barber (2001).
"Configuring Internet Technologies". Configuring and
Troubleshooting Windows XP Professional. Syngress Publishing.
pp. 285–389. ISBN 1-928994-80-6.
8. ^ a b c d Don Slater (2002).
"Social Relationships and Identity On-line and Off-line". In Leah,
Sonia, Lievrouw, and Livingstone. Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping
and Consequences of ICTs. Sage Publications Inc. pp. 533–543. ISBN 0-7619-6510-6.
9. ^ Rosabeth Moss Kanter (2001).
"Introduction". Evolve: Succeeding in the digital culture of
tomorrow. Harvard Business School. ISBN 1-57851-439-8.
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