Folks,
I think to some extent, a large extent, really, many of the information
tools that keep popping up -- from podcasting to RSS, etc. -- are like the
Mac of 1984.
When the Mac Plus came out, people were awed by its relative ease of use.
And all those type fonts! Peole could make their own brochures and include
17 different kinds of type.
And they did!
A specialized business became everyone's business. And it showed. Much of
the early work, albeit highly enthusiastically done, looked like a yard
overdone with Christmas decorations in the middle of summer.
That is how this current information tool development feels to me: lots of
glitter and not much substance. Lots of information, but not much actual
communication.
Another way I see this is thinking about Y-talk. Y-talk?
Well, about 100 years ago, or maybe it was closer to 13 or 14 years ago,
using a modem and computer you could "type" to someone live. that's right.
You and another person could "chat" in real time! It was so cool! And it was
so broken and useless. I can't tell you how many Sunday mornings we spent in
my family with three or four people online from all over the country,
positively gushing about that fact that we were all talking to each other
for free...with little to say other than, "Hello? Are you still online?"
Naturally, people on the front edge of this development will be excited
about it and talk about it *a lot*. That hubba-hubba about the coolest
things tends to give them a feel of legitimacy they don't really have. The
truth is that very few people use any of these tools or understand them.
That is not bad. Someone has to be first. And I willingly bow to those who
want to be in the cool tools department.
It will take time for utility to catch up with the tools. I still haven't
figured out a good use for a wiki yet (but I have found a use for the web
and for a content management system). And I still choose to get most of my
information in print form because that's the most flexible form it comes in
for me. As a technology, print, in the form of magazines and newspapers, is
a quintessential form. It only lacks "true" interactivity but, then, I don't
have that much time to follow five additional points of view on the Iraq War
at the moment anyway.
Still, it is important for early adopters to keep adopting early. One day,
today's toys will actually be useful and they will be that way because
people couldn't keep from playing with them.
My $0.02.
Steve Snow
=======================================
Stephen Snow, MA, National Certified Counselor
[EMAIL PROTECTED] "Where love stops, power
www.commcure.com begins, and violence
704.569.0243 and terror." -- CG Jung
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenan Jarboe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: Re: [DDN] RSS: The Next ICT Literacy Challenge?
> Let me take this discussion in a slightly different direction. The
> conversation on "narrowcasting" and student apathy to information & other
> opinions has been very interesting (and I may try to fit it into my own
> blog on the Intangible Economy - www.intangibleeconomy.org)
>
> But, to what extent is the problem aggravated (or even caused) by
> information overload? As Taran has said "RSS feeds are nice, but they
also
> suck in a lot of ways. Finding what you want when you want it has actually
> become a lot more difficult." There is so much information out there that
> it is easy (as some students do) to simply turn to your favorite news
> station for the same reason people by certain brands - they know basically
> what they are getting. It is an information-search short cut in an overly
> information-rich environment. One of the major appeals of blogs to me is
> their function as specialized information-broker - I read certain blogs to
> stay up on certain topics just like I subscribe to this email list to keep
> up with interesting ideas and insights.
>
> How does this relate to the digital divide? It does because I think we
> always need to keep in mind that there are many people who will react to
> information overload by shutting down channels of communications. DD
> survey's have consistently shown a percentage that don't want to be
> connected 24/7. Our goal in closing the digital divide is to make sure
> people have the option -- not that we shove their face into that firehose
> stream of information around us with they want a simple drink.
>
> Ken Jarboe
>
>
>
>
> At 12:03 PM 1/21/2005, Andy Carvin wrote:
> >Dan Gillmor at the Berkman blogger confab today just made the comment
that
> >the public will have to learn to do "a little more work" if they want to
> >stay informed. "It's not just going to show up on their doorstep" the way
> >it used to be, he said. It takes more effort to stay informed now, he
> >noted. So what can we do to streamline the process?
> >
> >Sounds like RSS feeds will be one of the next major ICT literacy
> >challenges for the general public, particularly when only five percent of
> >people on the Net use RSS and they tend to be white, well-off, and very
> >well educated, according to the folks at Pew. It will take this
particular
> >technology literacy (RSS savviness) for people to achieve media literacy
> >and be well-informed as more journalism and civic discourse is produced
> >for the Internet rather than broadcast or print.... -ac
> >
> >--
> >-----------------------------------
> >Andy Carvin
> >Program Director
> >EDC Center for Media & Community
> >acarvin @ edc . org
> >http://www.digitaldivide.net
> >http://www.tsunami-info.org
> >Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
> >-----------------------------------
>
>
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