basic concepts of new media HCI 26 January 2009 Kathy E. Gill

Recap … Mediated Communication is … Three characteristics of new media and their impacts …

CMC One-to-one -> email, IM, text … One-to-many -> email, Twitter, blogging, YouTube, FB updates … Many-to-many -> wikis, blog comments …

HCI The world is complex: computer systems seek to render that complexity into something “simple” Yes/No (zero/one) Linear v Pattern Seeking Human Error – preventable? Whose fault? Watch Pogue

Internet Roots Defense spending (predictable) Universities (sharing, not “profit”) Domain Name System (DNS) Analogous to the address used by a postal worker to deliver mail Works because of standardization

Zuckerman and McLaughlin, link

Questions How has the creation of email and instant messaging affected the way that you talk to your friends and family? With almost everything digital or electrical and computer- assisted, what is something in in your life that you use on a daily basis that is not “digital”? In what ways are you frustrated by technology? In those instances, is there an “analog” process that you turn to instead? If so, what is it? If not, how do you cope? Suppose a time machine were built. Would it be harder for a person from 1709 to adapt to 2009, or a person from 2009 to adapt to 1709? Why? How have you noticed the way you interact with technology changing over the last 5, 10, or 20 years?

Summary There is an intrinsic relationship between content and technology: both contribute to meaning Age-old tension between humans and machines Internet technology is application independent, agnostic, and rooted in the defense system

Lab On Wednesday Work on Friday project RSS