Week 4 Reading Reflection

10 Jul 2011 1 Comment

by qinghx in Reading

As I was reading Don Norman’s “Being Analog,” I kept thinking is today’s technology really a bad match for us human beings as he argues in his article? At first I thought, no, technology is definitely not some inapropriate tools for our human beings, otherwise we wouldn’t even invent it in the first place. Scientists invented all kinds of machines and devices focusing on details and accuracy, becuase they want to find some convenient and quick tools to help us finish the tasks we might took forever to finish back then. They are not bad matches for us, instead, they complete us, they make up the abilities and skills that we are lack of. With the help of these technologies, we humans have become stronger and powerful, and they have pushed our civilization a big step forward.

However, as I kept reading, I thought that technology is wonderful only when they are being used as our assistant that are always under our control. But on the contrary, today’s trend is that the developing technology has affected, even changed the way we receive and interpret the information. We are not the one who’s changing the technology unilateral, but rather, technology is changing our lifestyle and the way we think! Why? Because we are afraid of being left behind, so most of us have to change our own pace in order to keep up with the pace of new technology, and we have to change our habbits of living and thinking in order to adjust ourselves in this information age. “The slow evolutionary pace of life is no longer up to the scale and pace of technological change.” We are exhausted. It seems that human beings are a little out of control to the things we invented.

Therefore, it’s the job for the technologist to think, that what we should do to improve today’s technology to help us, instead of making us to adjust to them. Just as Norman states in his article, “An analog device is one in which the representation of information corresponds to its physical structure. … Yes, digital is good for our contemporary machines, but analog might be better for future machines.”

When reading “Networks of Remediation” By Bolter and Grusin, I strongly agree with that “A medium in our culture can never opereate in isolation, because it must enter into relationships of respect and rivalry with other media.” It’s interesting that I relate my own experience to it, that when I get a talkbox message that has geographic location in it, it actually contains several technologies: iPhone, wifi internet, and GPS. And without any of the medium, the message wouldn’t be successfully made.

Also, another interesting thing I realize was that we never invent new things, we only imporve things on the experience of older ones, including technology. As the article mentions, “When artists or technicians create the apparatus for a new medium, they do so with reference to previous media, borrowing and adapting materials and techniques whenever possible.” Therefore, when creating a new technology, it’s the job of the creators to think, that perhaps the best way to convince their consumers to start using it, is not telling them it is a brand new techonology out of no where, but rather compare them to the old ones, and letting them know what the advantages are within the new one.