That was then...
Posted in 2001 on the original Dreamworks AI Fansite:
The current framework for navigating and communicating via the Internet and the World Wide Web is a veritable minefield of processes. Users often find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of information they can ‘stumble’ upon and tend to predominantly utilise the Internet as a means to send and receive mail known as e-mail or electronic mail.
The Web lacks a serious design consideration and is a congested, twisted ‘jungle’ of info-stuff, most of which has little appeal to the millions of people online each day. For web opportunists herein lies the problem, and the solution. The Internet is fast becoming ‘THE’ global voice – the deliverer of all information – be it text, image, voice, sound, video or moving image.
The mediums of expression: television, press, advertising, telecommunications and personal and professional ‘reporting’ are all converging and in search of the most suitable environment in which to attract, identify, remind, inform and sell. As global industries and systems of communication fuse, so do their myriad products, services and technologies. No one of them has the model. No one of them has the key. No one of them can operate without the others. In the information age we are seeking a utopian environment of ‘I want, I get’ reality and in essence this is what will probably be created.
It is unfortunate that some great 20th Century visionaries the likes of Raymond Loewy http://www.raymondloewy.com/ or Frank Lloyd Wright http://www.franklloydwright.org/ are not available to help design the Internet, as such skills and talents would help to quickly advance it well beyond its current form. Technology is not the real issue, neither is bandwidth nor speed, as these components are evolving naturally to accommodate the acceleration of needs. The Internet’s real problem lies in its lack of modularity, uniformity, continuity and overall design, style and shape. What we have is a global dissemination system wherein tens of millions of people create and disseminate all the content. How can there be form? How can there be style? How can there be unity? It’s no wonder most people only utilise the Internet to email their family and friends. It’s no wonder that the marketing and advertising models continually fail. It’s no wonder the industry has reached a slump in activity. But this is par for the course - a hurdle, a frustration. Things will change. Models, styles, forms and structures-of-use will emerge from the rubble and slowly but surely, the Internet will claim its prize as the new leader of the information age. What we are all witnessing is a ‘necessary media evolution’. It’s just one stage before the next. In time a global delivery system will be built to satisfy all our communications wants and needs. Until then, it’s going to require some serious, inspiring designs of universal appeal: a new environment for individuals and corporations to co-exist and to seek, discover and disseminate information. The truth is that the digital universe is still in its infancy and the ‘real work’ and ‘true potential’ lie just around the corner.
TFD
Copyright©thinkfeeldo2001
http://tinyurl.com/29hjou
Tuesday 25 March 2008, 3:52 AM
Where IT's @!
In the very near future I will be posting some thoughts on technology and our accelerating dependence upon the many devices we now need to maintain contact with the world.
Much of my commentary will be based on observations and considerations accumulated during the past 3 decades of critical analysis. To date, I have not been published in a 3d sense preferring to remain 'electronic'. You need only consider my profile to assess whether I have anything to offer. I am a media interpreter and I see this juncture in the evolution of (hu)mankind as a form of communications renaissance. The tools and models we use to communicate today are still in their infancy. This is only the beginning of our technological future and there is much to discover and much to undo. Our whole world and all its parts (economics/ law/ environment/ media/ arts/ entertainment/ government/ etc) are converging and though I loath to admit it, I know where IT’s headed. Leave a message. Let me know if you’d like to know what I think. I’ll return on occasion to see if there is any interest. If not, then I guess I’ll move on.
Part 1, which I will begin shortly, is focused on the screen through which we communicate, receive information, entertainment and instruction.
Till then.
TFD
