Wendy Chun – Programmed Visions, (book, pp. 1-2, and optionally pp. 3-10)
The elephant metaphor I found really interesting. That although we may be given a part of the same thing, we can still have different ideas on what something is. One thing I didn’t like about the article was how they decided to word everything. They made it unnecessarily wordy and applied a lot of repetitive words to make it sound sophisticated but it really just made it more confusing to follow along with what they’re saying. Although, in doing so- I do know that it’s focused on software, invisible/visible, known/unknown, and metaphors.
Matthew Fuller – How to be a Geek (book, pp. 12-14, and optionally pp. 63-71)
I don’t usually reflect on the definition of geek. When I think of the word “geek”, I think smart, awkward, computers, etc. The way that Fuller describes a geek gives it a much more complex spin on it. It also talks about the complexities of software and how you can’t really place things into one category because there is too much that goes into it. My favorite quote in here was that “contemporary technology is not simply an extension of a man–a purely mechanical effect”. Suggesting that as humans, technology is just another way we operate.
Geert Lovink – Sad by Design (podcast w/ Douglas Rushkoff, 60m)
It’s funny. When my brain is not being stimulated, I feel bored so I start to scroll on social media- there’s nothing really too interesting but temporary entertainment and when I finish scrolling, I’m sad. I spent all that time doing something that wasted my time. Seeing how wonderful and more successful people are doing than me makes me sad. It’s ironic that seeing other people just as sad as me, makes me happy knowing that I’m not alone. Even online celebrities are seen breaking down despite them having so many fans and fame because people are always expecting more from them. Something as stupid as a snapstreak can make you upset if you forget to send a snap back one day- a way that it strategically gets users to come back and use their app. These apps make you unhappy so you can try to do better, become happy, only to be unhappy again. It’s this weird emotional manipulation that gets you trapped in this social media design.
Soren Pold – New ways of hiding: towards metainterface realism (article)
Similar to what we talked about last week, this also touches on the idea of surveillance and profiling through data. How to the average person, they don’t even understand what is going on or how they are being tracked. I feel that it is one thing to tell the public what is happening to them and another to completely shut and hide what is going on. People don’t read the terms and conditions- and if you don’t accept them, you can’t use the product. People are so willing to give things up for convenience- this is pure manipulation through capitalism. Your idea of Safebook and the autonomous trap I found humorous in the way that even without words or explanation, we know how this operates. We understand the language of Facebook and the language of the road as to not even need instructions to interact with it.