One example of a common use of these concepts is a Mail User Xbox Vs Play Station Agent Xbox Vs Play Station that can be instructed to Xbox Vs Play Station be in either "on-line" or "off-line" states. One such MUA is Microsoft Outlook. When it is "on-line" it will attempt to connect to mail servers (to check for new Xbox Vs Play Station mail at regular intervals, for example), and when Xbox Vs Play Station it is "off-line" it will not attempt to Xbox Vs Play Station make any such connections. The "on-line" or "off-line" state Xbox Vs Play Station of the MUA does not necessarily reflect the connection status between the computer on which it is running and Internet. The Xbox Vs Play Station user may have the computer Xbox Vs Play Station itself on-line, connected to Xbox Vs Play Station Internet via Xbox Vs Play Station a cable modem or an ADSL connection, but may wish for Xbox Vs Play Station Outlook to be off-line, so Xbox Vs Play Station that Xbox Vs Play Station it makes no Xbox Vs Play Station attempt to send or to receive messages. Or the computer may be configured to employ a dial-up connection on demand (whenever an Xbox Vs Play Station application Xbox Vs Play Station such as Outlook attempts to make connection to a server), but the connection may be an expensive telephone call from the particular location in which the computer currently Xbox Vs Play Station happens to be Xbox Vs Play Station (such as a hotel room) and the user may not wish Outlook to trigger making that call every 5 or 10 minutes to check for mail.
Another example of the use of Xbox Vs Play Station these concepts is in the world of digital audio technology. Xbox Vs Play Station A tape recorder, digital editor, or other device that is "on-line" is one whose clock is under the control of the clock of a "synchronization master" device. When the sync master commences playback, the "on-line" device automatically Xbox Vs Play Station synchronizes itself to the master and commences playing from the same point in Xbox Vs Play Station the recording. Whereas a device that is "off-line" uses no external clock reference and relies upon its Xbox Vs Play Station own internal clock. When Xbox Vs Play Station a Xbox Vs Play Station 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 Xbox Vs Play Station take it off-line, Xbox Vs Play Station because if Xbox Vs Play Station the device Xbox Vs Play Station is played back on-line all synchronized devices Xbox Vs Play Station have to locate the playback Xbox Vs Play Station point and wait for each Xbox Vs Play Station other to be in synchronization.[2] (For further related Xbox Vs Play Station discussion, see MIDI timecode, word sync, and recording system synchronization.)
A third example of a common use of these concepts is a web browser that can be instructed to be in either "on-line" or "off-line" states. The browser only attempts to fetch pages from servers whilst in the "on-line" state. In the "off-line" state, users can perform offline browsing, where pages can be browsed using local copies of those pages that have previously been downloaded Xbox Vs Play Station whilst in the "on-line" state. This can be useful when the computer itself is also off-line, with connection to Internet expensive or impossible. The Xbox Vs Play Station pages are either downloaded implicitly into the web browser's own cache, as a result of prior on-line browsing by the user, or explicitly by the browser being configured to keep Xbox Vs Play Station local copies of certain web pages, which it keeps Xbox Vs Play Station updated when the browser is in the Xbox Vs Play Station on-line state, either by checking that the local copies are up-to-date at regular intervals or Xbox Vs Play Station by checking that the local copies are up-to-date whenever the Xbox Vs Play Station browser is switched to the on-line state. Xbox Vs Play Station One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to download pages for Xbox Vs Play Station offline browsing is Internet Explorer. When pages are added to the "Favourites" list, they can be marked for being made "available for offline browsing". Internet Xbox Vs Play Station Explorer will download to local copies both the marked page and, optionally, Xbox Vs Play Station all of Xbox Vs Play Station 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 Xbox Vs Play Station each
The ideas of "on-line" and "off-line" have been generalized Xbox Vs Play Station from computing and telecommunication into the field of Xbox Vs Play Station human interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered "on-line" and what is considered "off-line" has Xbox Vs Play Station become a subject of study in the Xbox Vs Play Station field of sociology.[7]
The distinction between "on-line" and "off-line" is conventionally seen as the distinction Xbox Vs Play Station between computer-mediated communication and Xbox Vs Play Station face-to-face communication (e.g. face time), respectively. "On-line" is virtuality, and "off-line" 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 are more complex than a simple "on-line"/"off-line" dichotomy, he observes that some Xbox Vs Play Station people draw no distinction between an "on-line" relationship, such as Xbox Vs Play Station indulging in cybersex, and an "off-line" relationship, such as being pen-pals. He also argues that even the telephone can be regarded as an "on-line" experience in some circumstances, and that the blurring of Xbox Vs Play Station the distinctions between the uses of Xbox Vs Play Station various technologies (such as PDA and mobile telephone, television Xbox Vs Play Station and Internet, and telephone and Xbox Vs Play Station voice-over-IP) has made it "impossible to use the term Xbox Vs Play Station 'on-line' Xbox Vs Play Station meaningfully in the Xbox Vs Play Station sense that was Xbox Vs Play Station employed by the first generation of Internet research".[7]
Slater asserts Xbox Vs Play Station 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 Xbox Vs Play Station erase the distinction", stressing, however, that this does not mean that on-line relationships are being reduced Xbox Vs Play Station to Xbox Vs Play Station pre-existing off-line relationships. He conjectures that greater Xbox Vs Play Station legal status may be assigned to on-line Xbox Vs Play Station relationships (pointing out that Xbox Vs Play Station contractual relationships, such as business transactions, on-line are already seen as just as "real" as their off-line counterparts), although he states Xbox Vs Play Station it to be hard to imagine courts awarding palimony to people who have had a purely on-line sexual relationship. He also conjectures Xbox Vs Play Station that Xbox Vs Play Station an "on-line"/"off-line" distinction may be seen Xbox Vs Play Station by people as "rather quaint and not quite comprehensible" within 10 years
The distinction where "on-line" is seen as Xbox Vs Play Station virtuality and "off-line" as Xbox Vs Play Station reality is sometimes inverted, Xbox Vs Play Station with "on-line" concepts being used Xbox Vs Play Station to define and to explain "off-line" activities, Xbox Vs Play Station rather than (as per the conventions of the desktop metaphor with its desktops, trash cans, folders, and so forth) the Xbox Vs Play Station other way around. Several cartoons by The New Yorker have satirized this. One Xbox Vs Play Station includes Saint Peter Xbox Vs Play Station asking for a user name and Xbox Vs Play Station a password before admitting a man into Xbox Vs Play Station Heaven. Another illustrates "the off-line store" where "All items are actual size!", where shoppers may "Take it home as soon as you pay for it!", and where "Merchandise may be handled prior Xbox Vs Play Station to purchase!". |
