RE: Text and authority in 18th-century China
Luiz Ernesto Merkle (merkle who-is-at csd.uwo.ca)
Wed, 13 May 1998 15:08:18 -0400 (EDT)
Eugene,
> Thanks for very an interesting description of your field. I'm not very
> familiar with your area (a good excuse) so I have a lot of stupid
questions
> to ask. For example, what it means "Human-Computer Interaction"? I, as
a
> lay person, would say that I never interact with a computer, like I do
not
> interact with a fork or a spoon -- I just use them.
Your question answers your question. For me, Human-Computer Interaction
as a field includes the study of computational technology "use". But also
includes studies in the development of such technology.
Your example of the fork is wonderful. A fork, to be understood in its
use, need to be contextualized either in "the art of cooking" or in
"pleasures of eating". It is not easy to be a chef or a gourmet, a good
one. The development of cutlery and cooking appliances have change the way
people cook and eat in the same way that their habits of eating and
cooking have affect the development of these tools. Their mastery is
strongly tied to a culture or subculture. Just think when a knife is used
as a sword, the context changes. The art or the business of "killing".
The development of Computer or Information Technology is similar. People
can just use it to communicate (Computer Mediated Communication), to
calculate (Computer Science), to to work (Computer Supported Cooperative
Work), to learn (Computer Supported Cooperative Learning), etc. But the
development and use of such a technology have to be done simultaneously
with its use.
> When I say that I
> interact with a text or a book, I feel it is like a metaphor of saying
that
> I interact with the author of the text or the book. The closest sense I
can
> think of interaction is when I play chess with a computer. I may feel
it as
> an opponent and not just conduit of designer's will. So, what do people
in
> your area mean by "Human-Computer Interaction"?
I also have many restriction to the term Human-Computer Interaction.
Historically, the idea of "interaction" with an anthropomorphic machine
can
be exemplified by the "Turing Test" (If a user cannot differentiate who is
behind a terminal, a computer or a human, "the computer is intelligent).
This was the dream of Artificial Intelligence.
But computers have change, and their use too. In mainframes, MANY people
where required to interact with ONE machine, and it was mainly used for
calculations. With the personal computer, ONE man and ONE machine was the
norm, but people realize the there are not only men using them, and the
field has focus on ONE human and ONE computer, and it was not only being
used for calculations. But there were advantages in mainframes, because
although that technology was being used for calculation, it was also used
for communication, and personal computers did not allow that. So personal
computers have been linked first within labs, organizations, and now we
have the WWW. Therefore I construe interaction between humans and
computers as well as humans and humans.
The field is changing too, and it is not sure that the lable will remain.
Let's see.
> My second question is about why to study HCI? Is it about designing
better
> computers? What drives you to work in that area (i.e., Eva's question)?
It is also about designing better technology. But only if design includes
the ethical, political, cognitive, and other aspects of it. Design is not
only planing, it is necessarily a dialogical process of playing with
material and social resources in order to help communities to be
sustainable.
What drives me work in that area? During my engineering degree, I took a
"sabatical" of two years. Many things happen during that year, but the
main reason I interrupted and later continued is that I was not satisfied
with
developing technology without questioning where it comes from and where it
leads. There are several reasons but what drives me most to this area. One
of the main important is "social participation". I can't see myself
developing technology for the sake of technology. Now I'm studying in
Canada, but I am Brazilian, and I'm going back next year to work on
education and research at a technological institute.
> Sorry that I can't be able to help you with your specific questions.
You are welcome Eugene. Your questions cut deep through the history and
the future of this field.
Thanks
Luiz
_____________________________________________________________
Luiz Ernesto Merkle merkle who-is-at csd.uwo.ca
University of Western Ontario voice: +1 519 858 3375 (home)
Department of Computer Science fax: +1 519 661 3515 (work)
N6A 5B7 London Ontario Canada www.csd.uwo.ca/~merkle