6/25 Electric Writing and Hypertext

Chapter 50 discusses the use of  “smart tags.” The smart tag is very helpful because it makes information available that’s related to the tagged item through radio frequency. Furthermore, the camera phone has the ability to scan a barcode and learn about the product before buying it. The smart tag can also be used as a monitoring system that can detect leaks in plumbing or even help prevent the kidnapping of children through the tracking software. There are also many negative things associated with the smart tags. For an example, the tags in passports have the ability to track all citizens and visitors. This can lead to more serious things such as tags under peoples skin, which can allow the government to know where someone is at all times. The chapter also discusses “data space as the new cyberspace.” The data space will be different because unlike cyberspace which needs a search engine like Firefox, the navigation in data space will be carried out by humans and maybe eventually a component of AI. The mouse as a graphical user interface really stood out to me in chapter 51. For so many years we have had technology that does not require the mouse, and as a consequence we seem to forget about it. Instead of the mouse we either have trackballs on the blackberry or touch screen on the iPad. The chapter also discusses the importance of the hyperlink/hypertext. Hypertext “extends the written word (341).” This is because it allows the reader to click and go to another place where they can find additional relevant information. Chapter 17 also discusses the difference between print media and hypertext. Print media doesn’t allow for interactivity the way hypertext allows. Hypertext shows “interconnectedness between ideas by linking them together (283).” Even though hypertext encourages participation, it is still open whether or not it will be used more often in classrooms.

6/18 Alan Kay

The other evening a very special guest came to speak to our class, Alan Kay. Alan Kay has worked for both Xerox Parc and Apple. One of the things that stood out to me during his visit was the graph he drew on the board. This graph showed that only 4% of people like new ideas but are affected by society, and that 14% of people are just goal oriented and don’t care about the outside influences. The most interesting part about this is that 95% of people wont do anything new but 1% of people does care about the goodness of the idea and therefore invent new things. Alan Kay is part of this 1%. Another interesting thing he spoke about was C.P. Snows idea of two cultures, literary and scientific. He said that developed culture such as Jazz is not as important to the U.S. as pop culture. This is because the people are about identity and living in the present. In addition, Kay also spoke about Martin Luther as a user interface designer. I have never thought of a religious figure in these terms but it was interesting to connect Luther’s translation of the bible to a user interface designer. Lastly, Kay also gave us some interesting information about his close friend Steve Jobs. He said that Jobs was never a billionaire until Pixar went public and that he was never actually in the business for the money. In such a profit driven world I found it inspiring that such an important figure in the computer world was inventing products for reasons besides money.

Questions of Control

As any new invention the Internet has had many advances through out its’ lifetime. In the beginning the Net was extremely slow and it was very hard to get and maintain a connection, but there have been three new ideas or developments that have changed this. First, Graphic User Interfaces (GUI’s), which were created by Xerox Parc and are now entwined into almost every Personal Computer. Also the advancements of micro chips and there speed has aided the innovation of Graphic User Interfaces. Lastly, the creation and improvement of the Information Superhighway has increased the sufficiency of the bandwidth and has helped with heavy signal loads. Cyberspace has been continually evolving and with that the history of cyberspace is easily forgotten. Those who are working in the Cyber field today is fresh faces and have not experienced past problems that have come about. This may be a problem in the future because of their inability to cope with problems they have never experienced. A huge overbearing concern of many is privacy and how it will be maintained because of the lack of control that is currently on cyberspace. An interesting thought from the reading was that through the Internet advertising companies have switched the way they advertise. It used to be about solving problems or filling the needs of people, but now they have found ways to create needs for products that were never needed before like the iPod. Even though space on the Web seems unlimited many have worries on what that space will be used for and what happens when and if it runs out.