Blog 5

Manovich made interesting points when describing the shift between computers being culturally invisible to becoming a “new engine” of culture. When one thinks about it, computers and technology in general has come such a long way in a rather short period of time. Even 10 years ago, only a fraction of computers and other technologies that we know today were as mainstream as today. Today, it’s hard to imagine not using some form of technology in our day-to-day lives. We rely so much on software in our daily lives it has become almost a necessity. I think it can easily be argued that software is essential to successful functioning in today’s society. This importance can be seen through the success of many of society’s biggest corporations, as mentioned in the introduction. Companies such as Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft find success in software and technology in general. Compare that with companies 20 years ago, and it is truly astounding how much of a technological society we are today.

The inventors of computational media include Liicklider, Sutherland, Negroponte, Engelbart, Nelson, Kay, and other collaborators who worked with them. However, to say they are the sole reason or sole inventors of computational media is unfair. They simply built upon existing computational influences and shaped it into what was needed for that time. I feel that is why we don’t know much about them; technology is always in a state of change that to say they are the creators of the computational media we know today is a bit unfair. Like Liicklider and the other collaborators, there are many teams today who continue to build upon what has already been established.

These inventions have definitely spawned an experimental, unfixed, and democratic visual culture. As many have mentioned below, technology now days is hard to keep up with due to the constant change it undergoes. As soon as you get one model of computer or IPod, a newer and better version comes out. Change is also seen in software, although the turnaround is not quite as fast as that with other technological devices. Such change can be seen through the progression of the Microsoft Office and Adobe suites. A good thing about the changing software is that in most cases, the versions are not that much different from each other so it isn’t as critical to update. One quote I found especially true and fairly accurately sums up the entire media phenomenon was also noted by Beth in her blog: “experimentation is a default feature of computational media…constantly being extended and thus redefined.” These inventions have spawned a democratic culture as well because it gives people more of a platform to freely explore ideas and opinions rather than stick with one idea.