On-line and off-line

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The terms on-line and off-line have specific meanings with respect to computer technology and telecommunication. 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 (e.g., "I bought that shirt offline.")

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[edit] Standard definitions

In computer technology and telecommunication, on-line and off-line are defined by Federal Standard 1037C. They are states or conditions of a "device or equipment" or of "a functional unit". To be considered on-line, 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 off-line meets none of these criteria (e.g., its main power source is disconnected or turned off, or it is off-power).

One example of a common use of these concepts is a Mail User Agent that can be instructed to be in either on-line or off-line states. One such MUA is Microsoft Outlook. When on-line it will attempt to connect to mail servers (to check for new mail at regular intervals, for example), and when off-line it will not attempt to make any such connection. The on-line or off-line state of the MUA does not necessarily reflect the connection status between the computer on which it is running and Internet. That is, the computer itself may be on-line—connected to Internet via a cable modem or other means—while Outlook is kept off-line 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]

Another example of the use of these concepts is in the world of digital audio technology. 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 synchronizes itself to the master and commences playing from the same point in the recording. A device that is off-line 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 off-line because, if the device is played back on-line, 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.)

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 whilst in the on-line state. This can be useful when the computer is off-line and connection to the Internet is impossible or undesirable. The 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 a browser configured to keep local, up-to-date copies of certain web pages, which are updated when the browser is in the on-line state. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to download pages for off-line 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]

See also: WWWOFFLE

Offline browsing known as "Offline favourites" was removed as a feature in Internet Explorer 7, which now only supports saving single web pages, but not an entire site.[citation needed]

Similarly, off-line storage is computer storage that is not "available for immediate use on demand by the system without human intervention".

[edit] Generalizations

On-line and off-line distinctions have been generalized from computing and telecommunication 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 on-line and off-line is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication (e.g. face time), respectively. On-line is virtuality or cyberspace, and off-line is reality (i.e., 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 people draw no distinction between an on-line relationship, such as 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 the distinctions between the uses of various technologies (such as PDA and mobile telephone, television and Internet, and telephone and voice-over-IP) has made it "impossible to use the term on-line meaningfully in the sense 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 that on-line relationships are being reduced to pre-existing off-line relationships. He conjectures that greater legal status may be assigned to on-line relationships (pointing out that contractual relationships, such as business transactions, on-line are already seen as just as "real" as their off-line counterparts), although he states it to be hard to imagine courts awarding palimony to people who have had a purely on-line sexual relationship. He also conjectures that an on-line/off-line distinction may be seen by people as "rather quaint and not quite comprehensible" within 10 years.[7]

This distinction between on-line and off-line is sometimes inverted, with on-line concepts being used 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 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!".[8]

[edit] References

This article contains material from the Federal Standard 1037C (in support of MIL-STD-188), which, as a work of the United States Government, is in the public domain.

  1. ^ Bill Mann (2003). How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. McGraw-Hill Professional, 76–77. ISBN 0072230703. 
  2. ^ Bill Gibson (1998). Audiopro Home Recording Course: A Comprehensive Multimedia Audio Recording Text. Hal Leonard, 155. ISBN 0872887154. 
  3. ^ Arabella Dymoke (2004). "an a to z of internet terms", Good Web Guide. The Good Web Guide Ltd, 17. ISBN 1903282462. 
  4. ^ Paul Heltzel (2002). "Wireless Road Tricks", The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wireless Computing and Networking. Alpha Books, 205. ISBN 0028642872. 
  5. ^ Glen Waller and Vanessa Waller (2000). The Internet Companion: The Easy Australian Guide. UNSW Press, 110–112. ISBN 0868404993. 
  6. ^ Brian Barber (2001). "Configuring Internet Technologies", Configuring and Troubleshooting Windows XP Professional. Syngress Publishing, 285–389. ISBN 1928994806. 
  7. ^ a b c 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, 533–543. ISBN 0761965106. 
  8. ^ Rosabeth Moss Kanter (2001). "Introduction", Evolve: Succeeding in the digital culture of tomorrow. Harvard Business School. ISBN 1578514398. 

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