There were three different responses to the reading assignment. The first, and what seems to be the largest, is a reaction commentary to Lanham’s commentary to the development of materialism in the digital age. The second is a meditation of the development of text presentation as new technologies and techniques have been discovered as described in Lanham’s third chapter. The smallest response was to Tufte’s Visual Explanations ch.7; typically getting a few lines of commentary or a summary paragraph.
Because of the low amount of response posts on Tufte, this response shall focus on Lanham’s writing. Starting with stuff, let’s clear something up. We all have/ like/ desire/ dream of stuff. Our posts made this very clear as lists of how we as individual react to and accumulate our assets. Some blamed society for inspiring them to have stuff. Others still accepted they had stuff, decided it was not a problem, and moved on. Others meditated on the “Fame Machine” and “Artificial Life”, the places that our materialism now grows. Prime example of this is in the gaming industry.
“There are times (my brother) and I will have a conversation and it sometimes goes to him saying “well on PS3 games this happens…” and I just look at him and try to explain that there is so much more to life than whats portrayed in a video game. –Thompson
In relationship to chapter 3, most commentary involved observations that supported Lanham’s claim that text has shifted with changes in technology. The changes in how the text is presented create just as much of a variation in meaning as would a change in what the text actually says. Along with the many different resources and technology that are constantly becoming more known to us, it is really an enticing thought to imagine what is going to happen 20 years from now. Based on most of the class responses, they agree too. Technology is an all time high and new things are being discovered.
Discussion Questions:
- What reasons do you use to justify purchasing your stuff?
- Does the “Crystal Goblet” metaphor (ch. 3) still apply to digital text?
- Has the relationship between text and corresponding visuals changed over time or become more efficient?
- Who are we, our self in the “artificial life” or us in the “material life”?
- Is this a written or visual media? http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=D91xdNwRfHI