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Another example of the use of these concepts is in the world of digital audio technology. A tape recorder, digital editor, Play Sims Online Free or other device that is "on-line" is one whose clock is under the control of the Play Sims Online Free clock of a "synchronization master" device. When the sync master commences playback, the "on-line" device automatically synchronizes itself Play Sims Online Free to the master and commences playing from Play Sims Online Free the same point in the recording. Whereas a device Play Burger Shop that is "off-line" uses Play Sims Online Free no external clock reference and relies upon its own internal clock. When a large number of devices are connected to a sync Play Sims Online Free master, it is often convenient, if one wants to hear just the output Play Sims Online Free of one Play Sims Online Free single device, to take it off-line, because if the device is played back on-line all Play Sims Online Free synchronized devices have to locate the playback point and wait for each other to Play Sims Online Free be in synchronization.[2] (For further related discussion, see MIDI timecode, word sync, and recording system synchronization.)
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The ideas of "on-line" and "off-line" have been generalized from computing Play Sims Online Free and telecommunication Play Sims Online Free into the field of human interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered "on-line" and what is considered "off-line" has become a subject of study in the field of sociology.[7]
The distinction between Play Sims Online Free "on-line" and "off-line" Play Sims Online Free is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer-mediated communication Play Sims Online Free and face-to-face communication (e.g. face time), respectively. "On-line" is virtuality, and "off-line" Play Sims Online Free is reality (e.g. real life or meatspace). Slater states that this distinction is "obviously far too simple". To support his argument that the distinctions in relationships Play Sims Online Free are more complex than a simple Play Sims Online Free "on-line"/"off-line" dichotomy, he observes that some people draw no distinction between an "on-line" relationship, such as indulging in cybersex, Play Sims Online Free and an Play Sims Online Free "off-line" relationship, such as being pen-pals. He also argues that even the telephone can be regarded as an "on-line" experience Play Sims Online Free in some circumstances, and that the blurring of the Play Sims Online Free distinctions between the uses of various technologies (such as PDA and Play Sims Online Free mobile telephone, television and Internet, and telephone and voice-over-IP) has made it "impossible to use the term 'on-line' meaningfully in the Play Sims Online Free sense Play Sims Online Free that was employed by the first generation of Internet research".[7]
Slater asserts that there are legal and regulatory pressures to reduce the distinction between "on-line" and "off-line", with a "general tendency to assimilate online to offline and erase the distinction", stressing, however, that this does not mean Play Sims Online Free that on-line relationships are being reduced to pre-existing off-line relationships. He conjectures that greater legal status Play Sims Online Free may be assigned to Play Sims Online Free on-line relationships (pointing out Play Sims Online Free that contractual relationships, such as business transactions, on-line Play Sims Online Free are already seen as just as "real" as their off-line counterparts), Play Sims Online Free although he states it to be hard to imagine courts awarding palimony to people who Play Sims Online Free have had a purely Play Sims Online Free on-line Play Sims Online Free sexual relationship. He also conjectures that an Play Sims Online Free Why Cant I Play Poker "on-line"/"off-line" distinction may be seen by people as "rather quaint and not quite comprehensible" within 10 years
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The distinction Play Sims Online Free where "on-line" is seen as virtuality and "off-line" Play Sims Online Free To Play Sonic Games as reality is sometimes inverted, with "on-line" concepts being used Play Sims Online Free to define and to explain "off-line" 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 by The New Yorker have satirized this. One includes Saint Peter asking for a user name Play Sims Online Free and Play Sims Online Free a password before admitting a man into Heaven. Another illustrates "the off-line store" where "All items are actual size!", where shoppers may "Take it home Play Sims Online Free as soon as you pay for it!", Play Sims Online Free and where "Merchandise Play Sims Online Free may be handled prior to purchase!". |