Week 3

For tomorrow´s session we should prepare two readings: “As We May Think” by Vannevar Bush and “Sociable Media” by Judith Donath.
I read the first text two times. For me it was not so easy to understand. But the language was not the only reason. It was written in 1945, it´s a historical document. But during reading I forgot about this fact because Bush had ideas about future invention which came more or less true. When in these days somebody would write down these kind of thoughts it would be boring and uninteresting. But Bush had these ideas in 1945! He didn´s know mobile phones, computers, digital cameras etc…

The other reading “Sociable Media” was for me very interesting. It´s about the social aspect of communication especially communication via a medium. That´s what Donath calls mediated communication. It inclueds every communication which is not face-to-face but via every sort of medium: written letters, telephone calls, email, skype etc.
When I talk to somebody I don´s get even information through words, it´s also the tone of voice, the gesture of the other person, his clothes and the facial expression. Maybe I have prejudices when I have all these information. But on the other hand when I don´t see all these things - for example when I´m chatting with the other person – I also don´t see if the other person is sad or is smiling or maybe laying. I think that a good communication incluedes all these aspects. Thank God for skype: I can mediated communicate with my friends and relatives thousands of kilometers away from me without missing their tone of voice or their smile. Even if the smile comes a few seconds after the joke…
Although communication technologies are often developed within the context of business they became a fixed part of almost everybody´s private life. To be social, to communicate with each other is a part of our nature. And on a planet that geografically is very big modern communication technologies make it possible to stay in contact with people all over the world. And that in a much more cheaper and faster way than visiting.