The following are the points in our readings that we have related to this topic.

Marshall McLuhan's Understanding the Media

     * The Internet, which DSL is a part of, can be a hot or cold medium depending on it's use. A hot medium is one that elicits low participation because the receiver can fully experience it's totality without exerting much effort, which may make the receiver somewhat passive. A cold medium on the otherhand, is one that elicits high participation or completion by the audience.
      The Internet can be a hot medium when the DSL users have high-speed access to data making information available at once. Thus, the users are just mere receivers of this information. When the Internet becomes a cool medium, this is when the DSL users encounter sites that are inadequate, thus coercing them to strive a little harder in order to get the information they are looking for.

     * DSL makes the PACE of living faster, the SCALE of the world smaller, and the PATTERN OF LIVING cost-effective and technology dependent.

Harold Innis: Bias of Communication

     * DSL which uses the Internet as it's medium, would be a type of technology that has a bias towards the space. This is so because, a bias towards space would mean that the information that the medium delivers is ephemeral and can be constantly changed. One of the main characteristics of the Internet is that it cannot be controlled. It's nature makes it "change-resistant" and not subject to manipulation.

     *DSL's benefits are evident and may soon completely replace the former ways to connect to the Net.

     *DSL is an efficient technology because it enables the Internet to respond to the general needs of the Internet users and more importantly, it further accomplishes it's objectives to provide a high-speed access and transfer of data.

Nicolas Negroponte: Being Digital

      *DSL uses a greater bandwidth (144 kbps to 1.5 mbps) which allows communication of more information in a given period of time.

      *DSL uses copper telephone lines to deliver electronic and voice information simultaneously.

      *The Economic Model of Telephony is "based on charging per second or per bit, irrespective of what the bit is." In relation to this, DSL charges based on the speed chosen by the user.

      *As Negroponte pointed out, that "while fiber is the future for sure, there is a lot we can be doing and learning with our existing copper plant today." This can be the reason for the use of the twisted pair to implement DSL. Many people perceived it's use to be an old technology, but did not bother to completely learn it's full capabilities, and the possible role it can play in the transmission of information based on it's bandwidth size.