Wayne Wilson wrote:
>Heidegger talks about a property
>of tools called 'readiness to hand'. What he means is that the tool
>must fit naturally into a human's task.* I take this to mean that we
>need to build more purpose built devices and less general purpose
>devices if the spread of information technology is to continue. I see
>the momentum of the PDA's as evidence of this.
What do you mean by "purpose built devices"? I see the development of PDA's
as heading in the direction of a totally "general purpose" device that would
be adaptable to the information management and communication needs of any
one person. The current state of PIM's and PDA's is a mere scratch on the
surface.
Interestingly, this is close to Alan Kay's (30 year old?) conception of the
Dynabook. This also seems to be the target of Squeak.
ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/Squeak/docs/OOPSLA.Squeak.html
>I have been examining XSLT technologies and I think they are very useful
>for transforming static content, but less useful for transforming
>human-computer interaction. So if you are envisoning a primarily one
>way flow of information, i.e. a publishing model using push for
>instance, XSLT will work. However, if you are designing a highly
>interactive system, I think it unavoidable that you create special UI
>output modules. Now, if you are using the M-V-C paradigm, you don't
>have to write a completely new application.
>
>
>* For those interested in philosophical observations. This is my
>interpretation from reading Heidegger. The most obvious starting place
>is "The Question Concerning Technology". I found this on-line
>translation, but it does not have my quoted phrase in it. However, it
>does have a very interesting statement:
>
>"Technology is therefore no mere means. Technology is a way of
>revealing. If we give heed to this, then another whole realm for the
>essence of technology will open itself up to us. It is the realm of
>revealing, i.e., of truth."
---------------------------------------
Jim Self
Manager and Chief Developer
VMTH Computer Services, UC Davis
(http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/us/jaself)
