Kismet Arts Tangent

(1) “Being Analog” (formerly published as Chapter 7 of The Invisible Computer) by Donald Norman (1997) www.jnd.org/dn.mss/being_analog.html ;(2) ” A Short History Of the Internet” from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (February 1993), w3.aces.uiuc.edu/AIM/scale/nethistory.html

“Human beings are the results of millions of years of evolution, where the guiding principle was survival of the species, not efficient, algorithmic computation. ” -Don Norman

We can blame technology, once again, for all our problems. It’s humans that have sophisticated deception abilities, the masters of artifacts (learning from history) and an error-tolerant computing system. It’s only the interference of the rigid mechanical memory of machines that cause enormous misunderstandings and a new post-modern frustration. We have to learn new ways to manipulate our machines to find meaning and importance in our lives. Like the movie, Terminator,only the roles are reversed. We have to blend in– learn little phrases, equivalent to the digital “hasta la vista, baby.” Technology has vastly transformed the way we interact with other human beings. Wars have gone beyond human capabilities, making political strife a true guessing game on who has the old maid (aka. WMDs). Knowledge has gone beyond human capabilities–increased education requirements because of the exponential knowledge (and need for knowledge?). A new idea of efficiency, modeled after new technology has led to the dehumanization of the worker (efficiency= no deviation).

“The technology should conform to the people, not people to the technology” (Norman).

Another movie reference: Why was the clone army superior to the droid army in the Star Wars Saga? People think. They are flexible and creative. A beautiful marriage is formed with people and machines: it’s called the Internet. It is decentralized and has evolved. It wasn’t built in a day. It evolved and conformed to the needs of its fellow man. Bruce Sterling asks, “Why do people want to be ‘on the Internet?’ One of the main reasons is simple freedom. The Internet is a rare example of a true, modern, functional anarchy.”

As technology has developed, people have adapted to it, learning its codes and being limited by its abilities. I think, for the first time, technology has… “learned” (?) something from humans. The Internet’s constantly evolving structure of communication and interaction is a sign of human beings making technology work for them and not the other way around. As Don Norman’s mantra goes: Could this have been predicted beforehand? Maybe. But, it wasn’t.

Questions:
1) How has the creation of email and instant messaging affected the way that you talk to your friends and family? Does this technology help or hinder personal communication?

2)What is the relationship between the user of a calculator and the calculator? How does that compare with the relationship between the Internet and its user?

3) Considering Don Norman’s example of the rotating naval staff, how does this concept play a role in technology’s innovative qualities?