Humanizing Computers

I checked out the new Apple + Intel commercial and definitely agree with Lupton about how we humanize computers. In this advertisement there is a group of individuals in white body suits, like scientists, to take out the Intel chip that is inside a personal computer (PC) and put it inside a MAC computer. The advertisements’ commentary states that the Intel has been living a dull life, trapped within a PC, and finally gets to be where it should be, doing what it is capable of doing, more or less. The commentary/commercial ends with: “Imagine the possibilities”, after a successful procedure of “setting the Intel free” ("Apple + Intel commercial").

I interpreted the commercial to basically be performing a transplant. This is how we have humanized the computer. The scientists are basically representative of doctor’s extracting a perfectly good organ out of a bad or unhealthy body, showing that if in the right body, the performance capabilities are endless.

Computers, as represented in advertising, are prone to many of the life experiences that humans experience (Lupton, 426). Lupton goes on to write about other advertisements that depict computers being humanized. One advertisement where a computer was delivered by a medical practitioner because the catch line was that: “NCE can deliver color notebooks now”. Another showing a computer flat lining like it’s had heart failure (Lupton, 426-427).

We do grow to build a relationship with our computers, whether it’s a love/hate, hate to love, or love to hate relationship, it is a relationship nonetheless. The advertisements try to reach us on that level of knowing that we become attached to them. I myself have to admit that I would love to perform a “transplant” to my computer. I would be simply amazed if I could take the Intel out of my PC and transplant it into a MAC. I am also amazed at surgeon for all the same reasons, except that they do it to actual humans. These observations are useful for understanding the blurriness and importance of the computer/user relationship. The relationship is symbiotic: users invest certain aspects of themselves and their cultures when…..viewed as contributing to individual images and experiences of their selves and their bodies (Lupton, 427).

There is nothing that is most significant that I have learned so far in class because I feel everything that has been read or discussed thus far is all significant and is all profoundly related in my understanding of technology as a whole. What I will state though, is how interested I am in the whole embodiment/disembodiment aspect of technology. I understand an am beyond aware of where technology is headed, and how fast it is advancing. It is also very understandable how we, myself included, can have or will become so engulfed in it. It is easy to see how we can get so involved digitally, yet zoned out in real life. You will be able to immerse yourself in simulated environments instead of just looking at them through a small rectangular window become an inhabitant, a participant, not merely a spectator (Robins, 228).

What am I going to take with me outside of class into RL is that, even as an aspiring graphic designer, who is merely more than willing to dive head first into technology and all that goes with it, there are still many who are scared of it. Those who believe there needs to be a separation between both worlds, that the line separating the two should not be completely blurred.

Apple + Intel commercial - kewego
The new advert from Apple introducing Macs with Intel chips.

Keywords: commercial ad apple mac computer macintosh technology intel duo core chipset

Video from hazuki10

Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds. The Cybercultures Reader. 2nd Ed.
London: Routledge. 422-432. Print.

"Apple + Intel commercial." MY KEWEGO. Web. 22 Sep 2010.
.

Peg-Community or not?

I definitely agree with Bauman's dismissal of many contemporary forms of something-like-community as "peg communities"-as coat pegs on which we choose to temporarily hang parts of our identities (Bell, 255).

As social networking plays an important and prominent role in my life. I still don't give my full "self" or identity on it, I only give a part of who I am. Little snipets and tidbits of my life, or of my identity. Mostly on facebook my statuses are about school, work, and every now and again my home life. But these are only part of my identity at that particular moment of my life when I update. That is not who I am at every second, every moment of my being. Only those who know me in real life know my true identity, but even in that sense, it's not my full identity, just what they are allowed to know or see about me. But my social/virtual communities are an extension of who I am, nonetheless.

For some people, yes, virtual communities are "peg communities" that are "bonds without consequence" like Bauman describes (Bell, 258), but not for all. Bell writes, based off Giddens, that it might be possible to rewrite peg communities as pure communities as collectives entered into with eyes-wide-open, not stumbled into blinded by tradition and obligation (258).

In the end I agree with Bell, "who are we to say that what someone names a community isn't what we think w a community should look like?" (Bell, 261). Even if we don't give our full identity, we are still engaging in one, which makes us a part of it regardless. There are no rules that say how much of one's identity must be given for the community to remain true, or exist.


Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds. The Cybercultures Reader. 2nd Ed. London:
Routledge. 254-264. Print.



Design21: Social Design Network
http://jump.dexigner.com/directory/9389

deviantArt
http://jump.dexigner.com/directory/7266

Cataci
http://jump.dexigner.com/directory/13251


These are all design communities. I picked these sites because I am a designer and it is a nice way for other designers to come together and play off eachother's creativity and knowledge, as well as give/offer great resources for creativity and/or career advancement. These different communities offer different things for different designers that could, and are greatly beneficial, but all have design in mind as the common thread.

Yahoo! The Old...The Ugly...and The New....

I agree with Brunett and Marshall that one critical point about Web sites is that Web pages and Web sites change regularly (90). A lot of what we see on the Web is grouped amongst categories of interest and then divided up into subgroups within themselves. This is true not only in the search engine but within the website itself. When you click on a specific link in a website, it is going to connect you to other related resources or information based off the initial link you selected. The key distinction is that the web is much more continuous than discontinuous from different domains of activity (91).

When searching for information on Websites, most people not only look for ease of access, flow of information, and options, we expect it. As a commercial entity, Yahoo! has been successful at providing an easily usable site that can be personalized (91).

The old Yahoo homepage is somewhat overloaded with texts or links. It lacks images and aesthetics that keep the Web page warm and inviting. It is extremely text heavy that can be overpowering and can give too many options/links to choose from. Burnett and Marshall are accurate when describing how the links, even in older versions, with use of graphic user interface (GUI) and the icons clicked on can help lead or guide you to other interlinked information (82). This is prominent in the old homepage of Yahoo. All it is consisted of is links that lead to more links that are all interlinked.

Obviously with the advances in web design, and the knowledge of what makes a great website is ever changing. This is prominent with most or all companies and/or information sites. They all, at one point or another, give themselves a "face lift". You have to pay attention to the changing times and what is in more demand. Not that people are lazy, or don't want to read, but the simple fact that a "picture is worth a thousand words" makes sense. Not only to see and read a headline, but to have an image to go with it makes it much more real and interesting, as well as inviting.

The new Yahoo homepage is more personalizable, more sociable. If we are spending a lot of time on a specific page, the option of being able to personalize it and have specific links, information easily accessible and readily available the minute we get on the page, is time saving, extremely beneficial, and wanted. It's nice to be able to create or guide the web page to be geared towards things I am most interested in. We are wanting and looking for quick search engines, time saving pages, the idea of personalization is greatly warranted. The new page is obviously more appealing, on many different levels, but in essence still holds a lot of great concepts from the previous. It does so, but is visually stimulating, which goes a long way.









"Web Theory": Burnett, Robert; Marshall, P. David. "Web Theory: An Introduction".
2003. Routledge.

Have you been Digitally Divided....

The digital divide can and will be looked at from many different angles/perspectives.

Mark Warschauer states that projects around the world focus too much on the access of hardware and software, and little on human knowledge of that hardware and software (4).

Access to ICT (information and communication technology) is embedded in a complex array of factors encompassing physical, digital, human, and social resources and relationships. Content and language, literacy and education, and community and institutional structures must all be taken into account if meaningful access to new technologies is to be provided (Mark Warschauer 4).

The digital divide is about access to hardware, software, technology, even the internet connection itself, as well as the literacy needed for and to use the hardware, software and technology. It is a seperation in groups, communities, and people which includes having and incorporating techno literacy and cultural literacy. What good is having a computer if we have no idea how to use it?

The digital divide is not limited to the poor, the uneducated, or to those in third world locations, but is cross globally and reaches across every nook and cranny all over the world. Every one and one point in our lives will experience at least one if not more aspects of the digital divide.

Mark Warschauer provides great examples to show that access plays a vital role, but the only role in the digital divide. In one example, there was an experiment in New Delhi that provided an outdoor, five station computer kiosk, to one of it's poorest slums. No instruction was provided, there were no teachers to help or anyone to explain how to use everything. Kids had to figure out how to navigate through the kiosk. The kids learned how to navigate simple things such as: copying and pasting, changing the "wallpaper", also, how to launch and use Microsoft Word and Paint. The kiosk ended up being minimally effective due to the lack of educational programs provided, as well as lack of content provided in their spoken language. The kids mostly spent their time drawing and playing video games (2).

From the rich to the poor, the young to the old, the technologically savvy to those barely being introduced to it, the digital divide is prominent, and the awareness and attempt to close the gap is starting, but definitely has a long way to go. We must acknowledge the fact that every person starts from a different playing field and must be provided the much needed tools to succeed in this technologically changing and advancing world.

The metaphors used between Windows and Macintosh operating systems was somewhat confusing, and a little difficult for my to grasp and fully understand. I am not sure if it is accurate in that it represents modern capitalism, or that those of us who aren't prominently white middle to upper middle class users see it that way. To say that the icons of the manilla folders support that is a bit extreme and far fetched. They are recognized for what they are, literally. More and more people are familiarizing themselves with software, if that is in fact what they need, whether it be in an office setting, or at home for personal use. It is all dependent upon your level of education, what you actually do for a living, and your interest in the software itself. I was confused after reading this and am not sure what other metaphors can be used to better represent the underlying message of this entry. It isn't about the privelage of accessing the information, it is really about the reasons behind accessing it. What is our use and purpose for it. I wouldn't use Photoshop to merely re-crop an image, and I definitely wouldn't purchase it if that was the only use I would get out of it. However, in the same aspect as the earlier stated metaphor, you could say only designers would access the Adobe programs, due to the fact they are geared towards designers because only a designer would understand the icons of paintbrushes, cropping tools, etc. Like I said, I honestly didn't understand the metaphor so I do not have a solid answer for this.



Selfe and Selfe. Politics of the Interface. 1994. 485-88.

Warschauer, Mark. (2002). Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide. First Monday, 7(7), Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index/php/fm/article/viewArticle/967/888