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.