Contenu du sommaire

Summary: The redefinition of national models for regulating the telecommunications sector, under way since the 1980s, has been characterized by sharp differences in processes and forms - despite significant convergence on a number of points. An understanding of these differences requires an analysis of the dual process of deconstruction of the traditional public service model, and social reconstruction of a new model. Such analysis reveals, behind the apparent similarities of institutional systems based on a public service monopoly, the true diversity in the conception and implementation of this model. It also becomes clear that the insertion ofsectorial problematics in a social debate and political game (of which the rules and content are marked by cultures, political and economic histories and singular contexts), informs the renegotiation and terms of a compromise. The comparative approach adopted here enables us to grasp the significance of political issues and specific forms of political regulation peculiar to each country, in the definition of institutional conditions and in the different paths ofsectorial regulation.

Summary: It is often thought that a new management model for communication, totally opposed to that which prevailed until the 1970s, is emerging. By drawing upon various historical examples this article shows that numerous management models have existed in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors. These can be characterized by five variables: monopoly/competition, public/private, universal/specific, mass/elite, and national/regional/international. Since the restructuring which is currently taking place influences these variables simultaneously, it is likely - as in the past - to give rise to a number of management models.

Summary: The English mathematician Charles Babbage, who during the first half of the nineteenth century invented the precursors of today's computers, was keenly interested in the economic issues of the Victorian era. His calculating engines were an application of contemporary theories on the division of labour and provided models for the rationalisation of production. Bahhage's ideas contributed to the dehumanisation of labour hut were also the source of major discoveries. The mathematician's history was closely linked to that of the industrial revolution, cradled in England, the 'workshop of the world'. This article recalls the effervescence of that period.

Summary: This paper outlines the history of video games, from the Atari generation through Nintendo and Sega to interactive multimedia and hyper-reality. After considering a number of methodological questions, it suggests three different approaches for analysing the habits and behaviour of young players. It then discusses the new generation of adult games and the networks of virtual communities they have spawned on the Internet. The conclusion considers the influence of media games on other sectors of the culture industry.

Summary: The rapid development of mobile communication points to an overall change in society towards a more nomadic lifestyle. Apart from the technological aspect, other criteria also indicate such change. This article analyses the quasi-anthropological dimensions of the phenomenon, and the mutations in ways of working and in the very notion of a tool used to communicate in mobile situations. Clearly, with the spread of mobile terminals, the concept of a network is set to change. Hitherto associated with the rationality of the State and its control over a territory, how can networks avoid this control without changing fundamentally?

Summary: The subject of information superhighways first surfaced in the United States in November 1991 and was then adopted in Europe and Japan. This article analyses public policies in the three areas of the Triad, focusing more specifically on French, British and German attitudes. The author assesses technological constraints on the impact of ideological and cultural factors, and on the current process of harmonization aimed at a truly universal service.