Category: Weekly Response

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Miranda Pacheco – 10/8/18 Blog Post

In chapter one of Literary Machines author Theodor Nelson speaks about the vision and hope for computer technology. I immediately assumed this chapter would walk us through the functions of a computer and show its development overtime. To my surprise we learn about simplicity, in this context computers are made to aid an individual and simplify various processes. What we don’t think about is the complex nature in making accessible information translate to the masses. As Nelson puts it “making things clear and simple is hard” (Nelson 25). Technology has become such a big part of all our lives we never stop and think of its starting point. How most machines start from conceptual structures before going into its mechanics. If this is true then computers are not only task based machines but also aids to environments and people , all being considered in the conceptual structure phase. I believe”the computer” is a tool for information. My only concern is how we found a way to become dependent on them. It holds our appointments, gives us access to information, and more. In simplifying our lives it’s also sets us up to not know how to handle our own type of problem solving and participate in our own type of functions.

CITE:

Ted Nelson, Literary Machines Part 1

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Yvonne Jordan Week 7

The article i picked for this week on computers was “From Computer Lib/Dream Machine”.  Nelson gives his own views different truths and there needs more discovery in specific knowledge. Nelson also gives good insight on digital storage, which he gives some advantages to things we use like photocopying and multiple storage files.

 

Nelson , Ted. “From Computer Lib/Dream Machine .” Http://Www.newmediareader.com/book_samples/Nmr-21-Nelson.pdf, 1974.

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Week 7

Computer Lib, written by Theodor Nelson, describes the importance of understanding the importance of understanding computer technology. Nelson brings up an interesting point about how there seems to be a hierarchy among people who understand how a computer works and those who don’t. It creates a natural divide where the people who have this knowledge are responsible for teaching the ones without knowledge, the basics. What I found important about this article is when Nelson said, “Knowledge is power and so it tends to be hoarded” (Nelson, 304). I think this is so important because it can be so detrimental due to the fact that the technology can be manipulated by those who have the technological power. Therefore, the people who don’t have computer technological competency will be the ones manipulated. Leading to the fact that the technological savvy need to help teach the less knowledgable about the dangers and benefits of technology.

Nelson , Theador. Computer Lib. www.newmediareader.com/book_samples/nmr-21-nelson.pdf.

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Brieya Walker 10/9 WEEK 7 Brian Winston, The Coming of The Microcomputer

    For this week’s blog post I’m reflecting on The Coming of the Microcomputer by Brian Winston. This reading discusses the evolution of computers and their parts, along with the evolution of the companies that produced them. Brian Winston raises the question “What is the real impact  of the machine on the society?” which can have a variety of answers. Technology impacts our everyday lives because now almost everything is ran on some type of technology. I remember I went to the doctor a couple months ago and to sign in I had to use a tablet. I was so shocked because usually at a lot of doctors offices you still have to sign in with a pen and paper. In addition, he compares it to the invention of the automobile in relation to how fast the invention blew up and how they both had an enormous success remaking the entire environment around them. At the very end of the reading he states. “For fifty years, technisits have constantly told us the machine will revolutionise our lives.” (Brian, 240) I believe that this statement remains accurate regardless if it was written fifteen years ago or even today because even now, technology is constantly improving.  There is always some new gadget that becomes relevant to our day to day life.

Winston, Brian. “The Coming of the Microcomputer.” Media Technology and Society: A History: From the Telegraph to the Internet. Routledge, 1998.

 

 

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Marisa Brincat’s Post for 10/8

”Some people like all this incompatibility and complication, and say it is the new world we must learn to live in. Others, already hating computers, correctly dread these matters and hope vainly to stop the computer tide.” (Nelson, 14)

I came across this quote and found it interesting because it displays the difference amongst generations. When it comes to the new world, we have devices like iPhones, MACs, tablets, etc. We have all of these little devices that can help make our everyday life easier. For some reason, when we are without it, we can feel like we are missing something or we feel like we are not ourselves without these mini computers at our reach. For example, on Saturday my phone started glitching out and broke before my eyes. Thankfully, I had insurance on the phone and was able to receive a new one in one business day. At that moment, just the thought of not having a phone for a day made me nervous. How was I going to set my alarm for work? How was I going to call my Uber? How am I going to feel safe in an Uber without the ability to call someone if I needed to? It made me realize how dependent we were on these devices and just the thought of life without them would be horrible. After reading the second part of the quote, we have people who hate computers and wish this madness of technology would stop. This reminded me of an older generation who sees the craziness of computers and wonders how the newer generation would survive without their device. The older generations used to travel without a cell phone on their hip and they went through life just fine, if not better! This quote seriously made me reflect on the fact of how computers and technology seriously do shape the world and people of today. However, it may not always be a good thing and the people of the older generation see that.

 

Sources:  Ted Nelson, Literary Machines Part 1

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Carolyn Pena Blog Post Week #6

For this week I am going to write about “Literary Machines” by Ted Nelson. On page 12 Ted Nelson writes “There is no predicting the use future people will make of what is written. Any summary we write today embodies a particular view; the perspective of a particular individual (or school of thought) at a particular time. We cannot know how things will be seen in the future.” I find this very interesting that Ted Nelson mentions this because I think very few people actually think about this. I also wonder if people back in the day thought about this when they wrote something that was then kept till now. There are a lot of dead authors that their writings are so popular and it gets interpreted by a lot of different people. A lot of the interpretations could be exactly what the author wanted to say but some interpretations can be wrong. Also, Ted Nelson mentions what we write today embodies our perspective, especially at that particular time. Writing throughout the years have changed and the way the author writes during that time does have to do with that year in particular because of any important events that are going on. An author can mention what is going on during that time it was written but sometimes it’s not and then its the reader’s responsibility to figure it out. We won’t know how our writings would be perceived in the future because we don’t know how things will be.

 

Ted Nelson, Literary Machines

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Milagros’ Post for 10/9

I reflected on Brian Winston’s “Media Technology  & Society” and while reading this I was amazed at how technology and how the computer came to be. The process of inventing better quality to add to computers and technology is crazy. Somebody had an idea to make something and they worked to get the product to work but then its also about improving their product. There is also the question that Winston brings up “The question is largely begged as to what is the real impact of the machine on society.” (Winston,239) I think that this question comes from looking at the wealth that certain people have acquired from making these inventions. But I also think that older generations would be the ones to ask this question because they were used to just reading out of books or not having these complex technologies around them so they ask what is the point of this and why are people making this much money for inventing these new technologies. I think that these machines have advanced our societies in ways that are unimaginable but again this has effected us in bad ways because we become so reliant on these technologies and machines that we forget about the real world and real knowledge.

 

Works cited

Winston, Brian. “The Coming of the Microcomputer.” Media Technology and Society: A History: From the Telegraph to the Internet. Routledge, 1998.

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Clary Capellan, Week # 7, 10/6

For this week’s blog post I’d like to talk about the “Microcomputer” reading by Brian Winston. One quote that I believe illustrates the evolution of the print culture to computer technology is when Winston states”The home computer became the personal computer, which , while it could exist in the home, also had a function as a tool in the workplace. It was only with the coming of accessible word-processing, which turned the home PC into a very effective typewriter, and the arrival of the modem which permitted email and Internet access that meaningful domestics were found.” In other words, the introduction of the home computer substituted the typewriter as a result of the new found word-processor, which would make typing printed documents efficient and convenient. This signifies how the invention of the home computer met societies need which in fact lead to it’s ever so present revolution.

Reference:

Winston, Brian. “The Coming of the Microcomputer.”

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Michael Farias Blog Post 6 for October 9

For this blog post I chose to write about “Media Technology And Society A History: From The Telegraph To The Internet” by Brian Winston. This article talks about the first computers that were invented in the 1950s. Winston tells us that computers evolved from the telegraph. Winston says that when computers were first invented for military use, they were very expensive and only certain people could afford them due to their price. This really stood out to me because in today’s world everyone has a computer in his or her house. A lot of people have more than one. Today, people must have a computer due to the digital world we live in. It’s hard for me to imagine that computers were once very hard to obtain and that today everyone has at least one. I suppose this comes with computers evolving overtime and getting easier to make with technological advances.

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Chris Hobbs Week #6

Vannevar Bush’s article in The Atlantic, titled As We May Think, brings up serious questions about how has technology affected not only the human body and mind but the society in which these parts operate in. Bush begins by describing how technology has effected human interaction, in terms of war. Bush further describes how technology has helped scientist with recording their findings. Focusing on how technology has actually affected the recording and process of research. Such that the microscope, a human creation that can surpass human abilities, has made the collection of info quicker and more reliable in the scientist’s lab. Bush also brings up an important point that with the creation of important instruments of science and research, that humans will firstly always look for profit rather than social benefit. Overall, I think that Bush is trying to make the point that with technological improvement there absolutely needs to be an equal amount of an understanding of the social affect it will have on the population.

 

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 Mar. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/.