History of the Internet - My opinion

I thought that the documentary on The History of the Internet was very informative and relevant to all of the coursework we have done so far. I think it is great to see how in such a short period of time, computer technology has grown and developed. I never knew that it all started with this idea of transferring information to other systems by way of pods/packets which then had to be opened for viewing. With the development of the Internet, the World Wide Web, pods/packets were no longer needed to access infomation...now it could all be seen and accessed by all.

NMR "Augmenting Human Intellect" by Douglas Englebart

Augmenting human intellect means "increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to cuit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems." This allows for faster and better comprehension, coming to understand a situation that was previously too complex to be understood, a quicker arrival to better/more effective solutions. There is laid forth a conceptual framework for such a computer system that would aid human intellectual capacity. Such systems would need to provide quick results for both long-range and basic research, produce effective changes in working/thinking, evaluate pre-existing knowledge and assimilate relevant info, and develop methods for accurate/productive research. In today's world, there is a sense of urgency, a rush to get things done quickly but without skipping over important information. Computers, therefore, can effectively perform several tasks/operations to aid humans in their intellectual capacity.

Timeline for Augmenting Human Intellect

1962 - "Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework" is written and released by Douglas Engelbart

Throughout the 1900s, Engelbart invented the computer mouse, the window, the word processor, and helped in the establishment of the Internet. Also invented the idea of the hyperlink at the same time that Ted Nelson was invtenting the idea.

1988 - Engelbart writes "A History of Personal Workstations" which tells his entire career story which ultimately led him to his idea of the computer augmenting human intellect

NMR "The Cut Up Method of Brion Gysin" by William Burroughs

Brion Gysin was a painter and writer in the 1950s & 60s. He conducted experiment where he cut up newspaper articles and rearranged them at random to create a new, coherent prose. This cut-up method is similar to collage and camera/film editing. This idea of "cut and paste" would then be applied to several things including game and military strategy, the processing of scientific data, and computer use.

Timeline for "The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin"

1961 - Burroughs writes this article about "cut and paste" editing which was an idea taken from the surrealists who themselves borrowed the idea from 100s of years before.

This article by Burroughs invoked John von Neumann, a computer engineer, who traced uses of "cut and paste"

-idea is that an author can borrow ideas and information from other sources in the creation/formulation of their own personal text

1971 - this article was published in a book
- important tool in creating drafts
- more recent uses include the creation of metrical, rhymed sonnets

NMR 06. "Happenings" In the New York Scene

In Kaprow's Happenings, it becomes understood that the audience is no longer passive. Now, the audience is involved in this new participatory art. Therefore, the role of the artist in the creation of the work is lessened because the audience has an influence upon the work throughout the time of creation/performance. This idea presented by Kaprow in Happenings is the same idea that would be applied to human interaction with computers. Computers are functioning machines, however, without direct interaction with human command, it cannot work. Therefore, the computer and man are dependent upon one another in carrying out certain tasks/functions.

Timeline for ""Happenings" in the New York Scene"

1950s and 1960s - Allan Kaprow and others use the term "Happening" to describe many performances and events that involve interaction with an audience

-Kaprow wants to decrease the function of the observer and even getting rid of the audience all together which would leave only the artist as the primary force in performance

1965 - at Carnegie Hall Yoko Ono performed her "Cut Piece" in which she invited the audience to come up and take scissors to cut a piece of clothing off of her body as she sat there on the stage floor

-Myrog Krueger's "responsive environments" was released which was a work of new media technology

-Dick Higgins coins the term Fluxus to describe this "intermedia" work which was seen by some as threatening as is threatened art forms such as opera while others welcomed this change.