Saturday, October 6, 2012

Bolter & Gromala's Windows & Mirrors 1-3: Much Better Already

I hate to compare this text with our previous one, but for me it's already clear that this will be a good read. The first three chapters are really informative but interesting at the same time. It's also kind of cool how some of the information from Gleick overlaps into this text. In particular, chapter 1 highlights Alan Turing and his contribution to the evolution of the computer. "In the 1940s, when the brilliant and elegant John von Neumann, the brilliant and eccentric Alan Turing, and many others were designing the first programmable computers, they were not defining a new medium" (p.15)...

I was very moved by the history of transparency. There definitely is so much we don't see when using all these different types of mediums. "User interface design belongs to a long tradition of art and illusion taht we've been considering" (p.43).

Overall, my favorite concept throughout the reading was the concept of our overall digital activity being an experience. These new mediums have definitely created an atmosphere where information is at our fingertips. In regards to myself, I love watching movies and I usually watch them on my computer. While watching a movie, I am always googling someone or something that I find interetsting in the film. I never really thought of this type of activity in an "experience' format but it's very clear that it actually is. I  really enjoyed these three chapters. I also provided a video of the text rain experience below:



2 comments:

  1. How badly do you want to go play with the Text Rain now? It looks like so much fun!

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  2. Text Rain is simple but yet it looks very entertaining. I could see myself playing that for a while.

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