What is the meaning of 'in the ether'?

In the following sentence, what is the meaning of 'in the ether'?

Rather than calling some function in the ether and passing arguments, we call a method on one particular object providing arguments for the other information.

I found the sentence in this article:

http://martinfowler.com/articles/richardsonMaturityModel.html

It's an article on programming but I guess the meaning of it is general.

Solution 1:

Ether, or æther, was the mysterious substance once thought to suffuse the universe and be the medium that propagated light (and radio waves once they were discovered). Before that, it was the material that suffused the realm of the Gods. So, to say that something is in the ether means that it is something being communicated from place to place; it has no precise location, just as a radio broadcast can be heard from many different places.

The idea of ether as the medium for light and radio died out after the Michelson-Morley experiment's null result.

Solution 2:

"Into the ether" means into the void, disappearing.

Example: I can't find my car keys, I guess they've gone into the ether.