DTC 101 – Spring 2013

In the matrix scene, the binary flowing numbers are the language that a computer speaks. These numbers are the commands that make a computer do whatever it is told to do. In chapter 1 of the “Computing Pages” by Francesc Hervada-sala, the simplicity section talks about how things (including computers) are getting more complicated instead of getting simplified. The matrix numbers raises this point, proving that these machines are indeed getting more complicated. Yet its also notable to point out that as they get more complicated, they are also able to do more things. The Hervada article also mentions that access to ideas should be generalized. Meaning that there should be a greater ability to access any information that you might need. In the matrix scene, you can see that the numbers are starting to form shapes in the background. Besides the obvious fact that a computer can compute, this shows that these machines will one day be able to generate any kind of information needed, from numerical to visual or any other. Hypothetically, this image also shows the connection people have with computers and information. The matrix image depicts people in the background, which are made of binary code. It has been thought that the entire world as we know it exists in a binary physical manifestation. Humans and computing have a tight knit relationship, as we use them nowadays like they are our most important tools. Perhaps even reality itself is a binary code playing back before our eyes as physical manifestation.

@clonelord #dctv

I remember as a kid that when we reached the year 2000, which w’as a big deal to the people born in the early 1970’s. I thought we would have hover cars or flying cars like the movie “Back to the Future”. I grew up with just using a DOS command line to run all my programs or on a VIC 20 (precursor to the PC) which had a tape drive (yeah like the old cassette tapes). Then we built our own PC which didn’t have windows it had DOS, which stands for Disk Operating System. No you didn’t need to boot with a disk every time you turned the PC on but it was mostly loaded or handled by 5 and a quarter inch floppy disk. The 3 and a half inch didn’t come out till later. We only had monochrome monitors back then some were green and other colors but color monitors didn’t come out till later as well. I then remember watching the movie The Matrix and got people thinking is the everyday life we live false like we are in some sort of program and that we could be awaken to the “real world” which was horrible. The computers have significantly changed how we do our daily lives this also happened with the wide spread of cell phones. Imagine as a kid never ever having a cell phone my parents never had one as well. I don’t remember any member of my family or extended family having a cellular device until way later then my first cellular device as cell phones were to expensive was a pager yes a pager. So I could keep in touch with all my friends and family. Wasn’t until my late 20’s to early 30’s that cell phones become more readily available to the regular consumer and if you had them before than you were rich as they were very expensive not like the plans we have now in days. So you can imagine how everything has vastly change since I was growing up and somethings have just not yet caught up to us as a whole. Growing up and watching Star Wars the movie and believing we would have interstellar space travel when you get older yeah all the hopes and dreams that you have when you are a kid.

@joe5joe7

The computer is something that has been with us for years, at least the concept, however only recently has gotten become as general purpose and powerful as they are today. Originally they thought of them as solely for the purpose of computing and doing the very specific formula they are designed to solve. Charles Babbage’s difference engine for example, “Intended to revolutionize computation by mechanizing it.” Over time these became more and more complex, eventually reaching the point where the very concept of something like The Matrix could be thought of.

At it’s core idea, the Memex thought of by Vannevar Bush is designed as an augmentation of life. It’s designed to facilitate receiving information, as well as allowing you to easily share it with others. It’s designed so that any time you need information, all you have to do is reach out and the information is readily available to you. Along those same lines if you have any need to augment the information or change it, that also merely requires reaching out and making the change. The falling lines of code in the Matrix are simply the natural next step along this line of thinking.  Instead of the device augmenting your reality, making it easier to work with, the device is your reality. Unlike the contained nature of the Memex, the falling code of the Matrix is all encompassing, it permeates everything that you see. While Vannevar may be considering “As we may think”, the concept behind the falling lines of code is What we may think.

@chrisdtc101

With the abundance of technology at our disposal today, we are becoming increasingly interconnected with the technology we have created. Laptops, tablets, smartphones, and iPods are common pieces of technology that we all know about, and we likely own some of it as well. With the growth of the Internet and the rapid overall growth in the tech industry, there may in fact come a day when we cannot function or live without our technology. This is an idea from Vannevar Bush in his article “As We May Think”.

An example of this idea in popular culture is the image from the movie “The Matrix”, along with a video clip, of the “raining code” that makes up our virtual reality. In the movie, machines use humans for their energy, essentially harvesting them, and create a virtual world for the humans made entirely out of code. This code makes up the environment, other people, buildings, and everything else in this fake world. This raining code is seen in what is called the “dream scene” in the movie, where we see the code falling down the screen and represents all information from the virtual world including visual and audio information.

This picture and video clip support Ted Nelson’s theory that all existing information will someday become computerized code as shown in the Matrix. The raining code shows that technology is a continuous stream that is constantly changing, and slowly consuming us. Both Bush and Nelson reflect this idea as well: That a day may come when a world that is similar to that of the Matrix becomes a reality and our technology becomes more powerful than us.