SoLiXG:XG
XG
In the evolution of cellular networks, experts distinguish multiple "generations" of technological standards, spanning from 1G, the initial analog networks formulated in the 1980s, to the advent of 5G. These generations are the product of continuous technological developments and complex processes of standard setting, which entail the collaboration of various transnational institutions (such as the International Telecommunication Union or the 3rd Generation Partnership Project). They bring together governmental and industrial stakeholders to negotiate technical consensuses on the global operation of mobile communication [1]. The deployment of new “generations” of cellular telecommunication follows a pattern that is well-established in the development of digital technologies. It promises increasing bandwidth, diminishing latencies and novel applications set to revolutionize the private and business use of technology.
While designations like 4G, 5G or 6G attempt to define bundles of technologies and standards, "XG" captures the process of development, expansion, and maintenance of digital infrastructures, always directing attention to the next generation. As media scholar Wendy Chun points out, this process is never finished and constantly gestures towards the next update. It is driven by crises, such as security risks, environmental imperatives, geopolitical struggles, or armed conflicts [2]. But while the expansion of technological capabilities appears inevitable, the infrastructures' subjects – be they consumers or customers, users, or producers – are suspended in a state of constant anticipation, waiting to adapt to the newest release. Such a temporal rhythm exceeds cellular networks. Increasing connectivity and computing power involves expanding the material infrastructures that make "the internet" possible. This includes erecting radio towers and antennae, laying optical fibre cables across continents and the ocean floors, building data centers, semiconductor fabrication plants or "Gigafactories" that produce lithium-ion batteries.
Notes from 26.1.24
- should we talk about negative latency? - is XG driven by crises, as Chun points out, or by necessary capitalist growth development - By adding "promises", maybe we can avoid reproducing the BS