Programmed Visions– Wendy Chun
I found it very interesting that she sees software as a metaphor for the mind, culture, ideology, biology, economy, etc… Software is such a complex idea that is almost impossible to 100% fully understand the ins and outs of everything. Maybe why it’s called a metaphor is because it’s up to one’s own understanding and interpretation of it. In all of new media, as broad as it is, the commonality between all of it is that it is essentially software. Being able to program a software and virtually create anything, is quite pro founding to the writer. But Chun sees software as a form of enlightenment in not just new media, but as what I mentioned earlier. Although software is universal, it is still not universal/comprehensive to a majority of people. I believe why there can be a sense of ignorance from those who studied software and know this language better than others… But I’m still confused what she means by software is a metaphor for metaphor itself.
What’s an example when the writer said software is a metaphor for metaphor itself?
How to be a Geek – Matthew Fuller
I find the concept of “geek” very interesting in this reading. His definition of geek is “to be over-enthused, over informed, over-excited, over-detailed… to be a geek is to be a bit too public with your enthusiasms, to be slightly unaware in turn that these thrills may, to others, rightly be dull as dust dehydrated with a special process of your own invention.” I think those who define themselves as “geeks” in in software development are those who will become successful in the tech world. One thing I found very profound is that he says geeks created the internet and fight over it’s meaning. Because not one person is governing or created the internet, it becomes a topic of conversation and debate because it is constantly being improved & developed.
Sad by Design– Geert Lovink
Something in this talk that was very interesting was when they were discussing how they can overcome the smart phone/technology. He believes in the first stage you can still use it in an intense way but you try to deal/learn with the addictive side with it. For me, I constantly have this compulsive feeling to look at my phone, which is designed in software like fb/instagram to make us feel like we need to go back to it, get the latest updates, etc… Something I also found crazy is the guy who invented the snap chat streak feature. He took the las vegas slot machine algorithm and used it in many software features…
What does ‘humane technology’ mean?
New ways of hiding: towards metainterface realism– Soren Pold
Pold starts off this article by saying that “Interfaces have a history of pursuing realism through attempting to map, represent and interact with reality.” I think this is so true when you look at social media like facebook, instagram, and even spotify. It tries to make the user connect with their platforms but connecting their virtual life to reality. I think this is most evident in youtube. My home page is constantly being filled with videos that relate to my interests, things I have already seen, or things they recommend that I would enjoy. Back in the day I’m sure before youtube was created the way people shared music was by recommending things to their friends in person, showing them things, etc… But with the new age of software development, youtube even acts as the perfect ‘friend’ that has all the answers…
On page 80, why do you think Pold believes metainterface designers who hide within the interface/ hiding the interface “problematic” or “manipulative?”