Esther's Week 2 Blog

Vannever Bush’s 1945 description of the “Memex” is similar to the modern-day computer in that the basic idea is information at our fingertips. Whether it’s books, encyclopedias, excel spreadsheets or google searches, we can access data quickly and efficiently and have the consistency and capacity that the human brain does not possess. Tapping a key and opening up a world of information seems to be the basic concept—although the mediums (microfilm vs floppy disk) differ. Also, Bush’s vision of utilizing “Memex” for business correspondence seems prophetic.

The Internet of 2045 will be fully saturated in every aspect of society. We will have internet access in the middle of a lake on Mt. Rainier and doing voice-activated searches on the lap-top while driving. It’s hard to think of what MORE we can access on the Internet, but I envision it to be quicker, more efficient and Jetsons-esque.

Aha #1: In Networks of Remediation, the author brings up the idea of social construction. When two different subjects (Western and African) were given a picture, the African subject typically had a much different reaction and interpretation than the Western subject. In some cases, the notion of an image on paper was puzzling to them. While the concept should be obvious, I realized I tend to assume everyone has the same point of reference as me. Being born and raised in America, my concept of “reality” is not the same as the rest of the world. And the way in which I recognize and utilize “new media” is on a completely different level than others.

Aha #2: In the same article, Networks of Remediation, Walter Benjamin is cited for arguing that the Internet will bring about a political revolution. He asserts that a “citizen-based democracy will be revitalized” and that the monopoly communication/media power-houses possess will be challenged. Before, our access to political news was limited to radio, cable news, network news, newspapers, magazines, and other more traditional outlets. But recently, with the new wave of blogs and more interactive opportunities such as chatrooms, a whole new medium has been opened which provide better occasions to be heard and more influence to make a difference. Is that better or worse for government effectiveness or will it create more distractions and prove difficult to get anything done as we spend more time discussing issues than fixing them?