Wiener and McCollough

It is interesting how Wiener deconstructs the machine and illustrates its more human like qualities, and than addresses how humans beings are being treated like cold, lifeless machinery. It is also interesting to see this exploitation of people, whether for 20 cents or 20 dollars an hour, as a degrading lifestyle and that it is morally unjust to life (liberty and the pursuit of happiness) The over arching idea seems to be that there is more value in the machinery then those that create it, maintain it, and operate it. Yet, these machines where created by people using basic messaging systems that people use, and that at the end of the day the value should be in the people that are actually experiencing the physical and emotional toll of the experience. Wiener does a fantastic job at conveying the idea that messages are not just from person to person, but animal to person, person to animal, person to machine, machine to person, machine to machine, and alludes that this is not the end of sender and recipient combinations. He hammers home this idea without being redundant or boring, bringing in enough detail to sell his point on each variation but leaving out enough for further exploring later in the book.

As for in class discussion there really are not questions or anything that needs more in depth conversation, author note will be posted later.

Moving on to McCollough.

"While computers might seem to increase the mediation between the hand of the maker and the final product, McCollough pointed to the increasing tactility of digital design processes and predicted that this would only on crease in years to come." (Into to chapter) 
He was right. You can draw/paint with your fingers on several applications for apple. What doesn't have a touch screen these days? I can even go to target and they have a touch screen directory to their video games and systems. And even though the design process for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Move, or X Box Kinect, might not have been tactile, their digital uses all are.

Out of time, be back later.