Week 4 Reading

Donald Norman makes a strong point in his essay, "Being Analog," that I agreed with: He says that, "people do best with signals and information that fit the way they perceive and think, which means analogous to the real world. Machines do best with signals and information that is suited for the way they function, which means digital, rigid, precise." It's true that people do not function in a rigid, precise manner. People do not want to be slaves to accuracy, so perhaps people function better with information analogous to the world, opposed to digital information.

Norman goes on to talk about the technological evolution. His discussion of games and how technology greatly speeds them up is a very interesting point. Using war as an example, he explains how technology has made war (as a game) unfit for humans.

"Introduction to Internet Architecture and Institutions," by Ethan Zuckerman and Andrew McLaughin attempted to show how the internet is really a very simple process. Well, it may be for people like Zuckerman and McLaughin. But for the rest of us, reading this article was nearly as difficult as reading Chinese. Though the authors did raise an interesting point about how it can take up to 70 computers just to send an e-mail. Also interesting in this paper was the discussion of the internet in developing countries. Technology has advanced so far in the last decade, but Americans likely take for granted this ease with the internet and electronic media. In many nations, such as those in Africa that were mentioned, connecting to the internet is not as simple as it is for us.

Discussion Questions:

1. Explain some ways people have adapted to the evolution of technology.

2. Will future technology make computers more human-like (creative, less rigid, etc.)?

3. Before reading this article, what was your conception of the process of sending an email?