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.

As we have seen in class,Licklider and Taylor envisioned computers in their book as devices that would transform human
 communication by enabling cooperation and the sharing of knowledge. Usenet offered a platform that was decentralized, where
 messages could be exchanged among participants and discussions carried on about various topics, without relying on any form of
 central body that had helped, to some extent, realize this ideal. It is due to this type of decentralization that people came
 together along lines of interests and reflected their vision of an open network for knowledge sharing.

Licklider and Taylor were not prepared for problems that plagued Usenet, such as spam, poor moderation, and an inability to
 maintain productive discussion. Unlike the duo's vision of immediate, multimedia collaboration, Usenet relied on asynchronous
 text communication. It suffered from scalability issues as it grew, further hindering meaningful interactions from taking
 place and deviating from its purpose in terms of ease for intellectual collaboration.