Re: CS-234 Discussion

CS234 <cs234@lhmerino.dont-email.me> wrote:

This thread is intended for the students of CS-234: Technologies for democratic society
 
How does Usenet fit into the vision presented by Licklider and Taylor in
"The Computer as a Communication Device"?
 
Reflect on:
- Which aspects of their vision are realized through Usenet?
- What aspects have evolved differently from what they imagined?
 
Feel free to respond to comments made by your classmates as well.

Many aspects discussed in The Computer as a Communication Device
are realized through Usenet. First, the Communities of interest
aspect: Usenet was built around the concept of newsgroups,
connecting people with the same center of interests and enabling
them to share their ideas and to debate and exchange information
about subjects that unite them.The second aspect is the
interconnected networks. It is clear that Usenet allows for
the mixing and interconnection of subjects. Another aspect
is the decentralized access. In Usenet, anyone can participate
without any centralized control, which resonates with the
vision of an open network stated in the article, allowing
widespread access to information.

For the aspects that have evolved differently, we can
name real-time communication. The vision emphasizes
real-time interaction whereas in Usenet, the concept
focuses on asynchronous posting and probably delayed
responses with no immediate dialogue. There is
also the idea of a very sophisticated interface
like the Oliver program, but we can notice that
the Unenet interface is not really user-friendly
and is not really personalizable nor adaptable to
every user. We can also note a difference in terms
of the security and privacy concerns. On one hand,
the envisioned system is well-controlled and respectful of
the environment. On the other hand, Usenet is subject to
various security and privacy issues such as spam and trolling.