WHO NEEDS THE INTERNET - COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION IN DESIGN FIRMS

We examine how the introduction of computer-mediated communications te chnologies, such as the Internet, affect design firms. We interviewed a diverse sample of the small but growing number of practitioners from around the world who use the Internet in their day-to-day operations. The interviews were conducted using the Internet. We found that certa in firms are redefining themselves in terms of their entrepreneurial e ndeavours, as processors of texts, as collaborators, and as players in the global arena. We discuss these phenomena in the light of the phil osophical consideration of the way technologies disclose features of a firm's practices. Disclosure displaces need as the means of understan ding the relationship between technology and practice.