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 aligns with how Licklider and Taylor thought about:
- Enabling geographically separate people to communicate and form communities
- Providing a platform for many-to-many communication and collaborative discussion beyond
  one-to-one or broadcast models.
- Allowing for asynchronous participation, giving users flexibility in when they engage
- Creating a shared information space where knowledge can be collectively developed

However, Usenet differs from Licklider and Taylor’s their vision in some major ways:
- Lacks the rich interactive capabilities they imagined, like shared screens and models.
  because Usenet is primarily text-based.
- The lack of moderation tools led to issues with misinformation/spam which resulted in
  communities not being as cohesive or effective
- It did not become as ubiquitous or integrated into daily work/life as they predicted

Overall, Usenet was an important early step toward realizing the potential of computer
communication, but was not the full vision imagined by either thinkers.