Critical Analysis of Writing for Machines part 2
In the second chapter N. Katherine Hayles calls for an increase in Academic material dealing with the technologies of producing literature. She believes that there has been a long history to regard literary content such as works of fiction and narrative to be “entirely products of the imagination”, and to snub the mediums more tangible delivery. Or an analogy I’d use to describe it academics have been so mesmerised by the spread of food at the banquet they haven’t given much taught to the platters and plates.
It’s clear from the first chapter N. Katherine Hayles has a deep love for books, as clearly seen when she draws attention to her habit of reading in the bath through the use of a simulated magnifying glass effect on the passage. And I know she feels, books are incredibly gratifying to read, and in an increasingly digital world books are a welcome concrete physical object.
I agree with her that the materiality of literature is vitally important to the experience of the reader and with the influx of new electronic means of delivery this is an exciting and transitional time for what we know as literature. Even though the true effect the wave of new media will have has not yet been felt it effects already have been startling, in the last few years we’ve seen increasingly rapid shrinking of traditional news print media.
Within a decade it is not unreasonable to imagine a world in which the traditional broad sheet newspaper has become let another remnant of the past. This will have a deep impact on the perception of the message of news story for the solid tangible quality of the News papers lends itself to a form that is much more trustworthy, you can hold a news paper and feel the news print rub off on to your finger tips and imagine the production chain stretch back from the delivery van to the printers to the editors desk to the journalist. It sells you the idea, rightly or wrongly, of a journalistic integrity of a bustling press room, of an institution you can hold to account for they’re shortcomings. As seen in this popular view of the news reporter in different spectrums of popular culture from the docu-drama "All the Presidents Men" to the comic book adventures of "Spider-Man."
But now the news, and in particular political analysis, is increasingly found in the new phenomenon of the blogosphere. This is fresh and unmarked. Without imagery and popular held notions of traditional print media. In my opinion as literature leaves the real world for the digital world it becomes harder to connect with the author, and trust their intentions, to me printed with ink is closer to carved in stone than flickering pixels.
It’s clear from the first chapter N. Katherine Hayles has a deep love for books, as clearly seen when she draws attention to her habit of reading in the bath through the use of a simulated magnifying glass effect on the passage. And I know she feels, books are incredibly gratifying to read, and in an increasingly digital world books are a welcome concrete physical object.
I agree with her that the materiality of literature is vitally important to the experience of the reader and with the influx of new electronic means of delivery this is an exciting and transitional time for what we know as literature. Even though the true effect the wave of new media will have has not yet been felt it effects already have been startling, in the last few years we’ve seen increasingly rapid shrinking of traditional news print media.
Within a decade it is not unreasonable to imagine a world in which the traditional broad sheet newspaper has become let another remnant of the past. This will have a deep impact on the perception of the message of news story for the solid tangible quality of the News papers lends itself to a form that is much more trustworthy, you can hold a news paper and feel the news print rub off on to your finger tips and imagine the production chain stretch back from the delivery van to the printers to the editors desk to the journalist. It sells you the idea, rightly or wrongly, of a journalistic integrity of a bustling press room, of an institution you can hold to account for they’re shortcomings. As seen in this popular view of the news reporter in different spectrums of popular culture from the docu-drama "All the Presidents Men" to the comic book adventures of "Spider-Man."
But now the news, and in particular political analysis, is increasingly found in the new phenomenon of the blogosphere. This is fresh and unmarked. Without imagery and popular held notions of traditional print media. In my opinion as literature leaves the real world for the digital world it becomes harder to connect with the author, and trust their intentions, to me printed with ink is closer to carved in stone than flickering pixels.
yes, digital media are inherently flexible precisely because of their intangibility...this is how they keep getting squished into smaller and smaller spaces. most books could be smaller if they were printed on thinner paper in a smaller typeface with smaller margins around the text, but that can only go so far before the human eye can't read it any more. because humans don't read digital files (they can only see the projections/translations of those files through screens and monitors), engineers can continue to shrink the space between the data.
ReplyDeletenice metaphor with the food/plates!