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.

In their paper "The Computer as a Communication Device" Licklider and
Taylor focus on how computers should be used to facilitate communication
and collaboration by enabling access to vast resources and creating online
 communities based on shared interest rather than geographical location.
They want to create a platform where there is an interactive, creative
communication, one that enriches everyone involved. Usenet embodies this
by enabling global communication through decentralized discussion forums.
Usenet aligns with their vision in the sense that it is an open community
accessible to all, even people with economic restraints.
 There is no central authority who controls the content
or the access. Another plus is that, Licklider and Taylor acknowledged
 that collaboration should be able to occur at any time zones and schedules,
 Usenet fullfills this through its asynchronous communication.
However, there are aspects of usenet that are different than what they
envisioned. For example usenet lacks tools such as face timing,image sharing
which constitute some of the core visions for digital communication of
Licklider and Taylor.It is a text based system which is a limited type of
communication that isn’t as fast as face to face communication or
using images. There is also the fact that usenet doesn't have the best user
 interface. What Taylor and Licklider predicted was a more
 user-friendly and intuitive platform. While usenet is relatively
difficult to navigate for the average user compared to today's social
 media and forums which have more accessible features.
To conclude, at the time usenet as created it as revolutionary and had some
key alignments with what licklider and taylor envisioned. But as technology
moved on, it faded into the background because of some other core ideas
(face timing, instant messaging, filtering) that weren't implemented, as
new technologies emerged.