Chicken and egg
This entry was originally posted on 3 October 2003 at 10:33 a.m.
When did we stop using human metaphors for computers and start using computer metaphors for humans? It probably happened a long time ago, in some transition that was so gradual that people barely noticed which way the pendulum was beginning to swing. Maybe one or two people noted it with some sense of irony at the time. Maybe a handful of people encouraged it because they found it amusing. But suddenly it's everywhere, and i sometimes have to wonder whether we are in fact changing what it means to be human based on our interactions with machines.
At the same time, we're twisting the machines to resemble us more and more--something that probably goes back to Vaucanson's automata. In the not so distant future, computers will be both tiny and ubiquitous, and they'll probably carry very humanlike personas.
In the end, will we have switched places?
When did we stop using human metaphors for computers and start using computer metaphors for humans? It probably happened a long time ago, in some transition that was so gradual that people barely noticed which way the pendulum was beginning to swing. Maybe one or two people noted it with some sense of irony at the time. Maybe a handful of people encouraged it because they found it amusing. But suddenly it's everywhere, and i sometimes have to wonder whether we are in fact changing what it means to be human based on our interactions with machines.
At the same time, we're twisting the machines to resemble us more and more--something that probably goes back to Vaucanson's automata. In the not so distant future, computers will be both tiny and ubiquitous, and they'll probably carry very humanlike personas.
In the end, will we have switched places?
posted by Circus at 5:54 PM
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