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.

Usenet is one of the precursory Internet-based systems for facilitating
 group discussions and embodies to a large degree the concept put forward
 by Licklider and Taylor of using computers for communication and
collaboration. Usenet realized these visions with the use of computers
 that are interconnected to form communities in which users could share
 ideas, data, and discussions across geographically dispersed locations.
 It enabled users to interact collectively around shared interests,
 reflecting the notion of a "supercommunity."

Usenet, however, worked out rather differently from all of these
 paradigms. It was, essentially, a decentralized text-based bulletin
 board system and not the rich, interactive graphical interface that
 Licklider and Taylor had envisioned. While it did help people in
 collaboration, it did not have that dynamic model-sharing
interactivity and real-time cooperative problem-solving they
 had envisaged would revolutionize communications.