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

Louis@louiscrc.eternal-september.org

Usenet is an implementation of certain aspects of Licklider and Taylor's vision regarding interactive and
community-based communication, where users share knowledge in a decentralized way. It is a precursor to the forums
that later appeared on the internet, with the same idea of collective understanding. However, Usenet mainly serves as
a platform for exchanging passive information, whereas Licklider and Taylor had imagined a more dynamic and creative
system of interaction, similar to what we would now consider real-time messaging. Nonetheless, they were pioneers in
their vision of computers playing an active role in facilitating communication. Usenet was an influential tool, but
it does not provide the level of interactivity and model manipulation they envisioned, evolving more as a
message-forwarding system than a truly creative tool.