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.

Computers, for Licklider and Taylor, were not seen as ordinary tools, but rather as revolutionary devices that could be used for enhancing human interactions, communication and collaboration.
Usenet goes in that way by permitting its users to share whatever they want without being limited by distance, hence creating borderless communities and connecting people through this mean.

Some aspects differed from the vision they had thought of,  indeed Licklider and Taylor both envisioned more interactive and deeper ways to connect people than only text-based communications.
Today, social media or apps like WhatsApp and Telegram both embody in a better way their vision. Usenet was indeed a necessary step to achieve computer based communication.