MCOM 100 -
New Media: Hypertext
Interface Culture
FOUR –
LINKS
“slang is
where language happens”
“surfing”
as an extension of channel surfing
Hypertext:
links of association
·
link
Dickens
Vannevar Bush
and MEMEX – “As We May Think”
·
key differences to the web
o
Bookmarks/Favorites?
The
promise of hypertext
1. realized
structurally
·
Journalism as an array of possible combinations
rather than a unified piece
2. realized
linguistically
o
layered, associative syntax (SUCK)
FIVE –
TEXT
·
Johnson makes a case for text
·
“I’m a typer not a writer”
Textual
Paradigm Shift
·
Interface is misunderstood
Can a computer
make sense of language without learning to read?
V-Twin –
Apple’s pattern matching engine (Views)
·
Idea of windows governed by semantics not space
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict
between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain
·
“Whenever a culture elevates the written word at the expense
of the image, patriarchy dominates.
When the importance of the image supersedes the written word, feminine
values and egalitarianism flourish.” (p. 7)
·
Brain chemistry (Left and Right Hemispheres)
3,000,000 - 2,000,000 years ago
·
Hominids
200,000 - 90,000 years
ago
·
Language develops.
·
Homo Sapiens differentiate away from hominids.
·
Language requires complete rewiring of human
brains.
·
Split Brain phenomenon becomes highly
exaggerated only in humans.
40,000 - 10,000 years
ago
·
Homo Sapiens organize into highly effective
hunter/gatherer societies.
·
In general, hunter/gatherer tribes worship a mixture
of both spirits.
10,000 - 5,000 years
ago
·
Agriculture discovered/ Domestication of animals
discovered.
5,000 - 3,000 years ago
·
Writing invented.
·
Left hemispheric modes of perception, the
hunting/killing side, reinforced.
3,000 - 2,500 years
ago
·
Greeks become the second literate culture.
0 – 500 AD
·
Roman Empire achieves near universal alphabetic
literacy rates
500 - 1000 AD
·
Rome falls to barbarian invasions.
·
Dark Ages begin.
1000 - 1453
·
High Middle Ages characterized by a renewed
interest in literacy.
·
Renaissance begins
1454 -1820
·
Gutenberg's printing press makes available
alphabet literacy to the masses.
1517 - 1820
·
Protestant Reformation breaks out fueled by many
who can now read
1465 - 1820
·
Witch’s Hammer and witch hunts
1820 - 1900
·
Photography does for images what the printing
press had accomplished for written words
1900 - 1950
·
Telegraph, radio, film, and telephone
reconfigure the world.
1950 - 2000
·
Popularity of television explodes after the end
of WWII.
·
Television requires different mode of perception
o
Iconic Revolution begins.