CYBERSPACE
The word cyberspace was coined by the science fiction writer William Gibson and first appeared in his influential debut novel Neuromancer, published in 1984.
Cyberspace is a compound word formed from two parts, cyber- and -space. The cyber- prefix was taken from the 20th century term cybernetics, the study of communication and control systems in machines and living things - what makes them work, and keeps them working. The -space part presumably came by analogy with the already-established word hyperspace.
Cybernetics is from the Greek noun kubernetes (helmsman), in turn derived from the verb kubernan (to steer or control). This makes sense when applied to the discipline of cybernetics, less so when used in science fiction.
Cybernetics (the science of electrical and mechanical control systems) has nothing to do with unpleasant humanoid robots, despite contributing to the creation of cybermen (silver 60s monsters from the TV series Dr Who) or the cyborg, a contraction of cybernetic organism. The latter refers to a being that is part man - they invariably are men - and part machine, as seen in The Terminator and many similar movies. Interestingly, we now have a further contraction of the word cyborg in the Borg, the sinister collective of beings that spends its time assimilating other life forms and taking over the galaxy in Star Trek: the Next Generation.
What Gibson did with cyberspace was invent a fancy name for a fancy version of the Internet, and being such an evocative name, it caught on. It has in turn given rise to the term cyberpunk, a generic name for the fusion of film noir and near-future science fiction most familiar from novels like Gibson's own Neuromancer and movies such as Bladerunner, along with their many imitators.
Cyber- is now freely used to refer to almost anything computer-oriented. One of the commonest words is probably cyber-café, a café providing metered access to the Internet. Many preoccupations of the cyber-age cyber-surfing cyber-junkies seem similar to those of predominantly male groups in other environments - cyber-babes, cyber-crime, cyber-sex and cyber-warfare. Two types of cyber-crime seem to be statistically significant - cyber-stalking or computer-based sexual harassment, and cyber-squatting or the buying up of Internet domain names for profitable resale to their invariably outraged 'natural' owners.
Personally speaking, I am a somewhat reluctant member of the cyber generation and harbour considerable sympathy for the cyber-luddites.
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