Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor
From: taylor@hplabs.HP.COM (Dave Taylor)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: The Aesthetics of Computers
Message-ID: <1430@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: 19 Jan 88 08:35:24 GMT
Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Software Technology Lab
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Approved: taylor@hplabs

The discussion of hypertext brought to mind something that I've noticed
for a long time about my interaction with computers; there is no sense
of aesthetic or kinesthetic to them.

I say this sitting at home, glancing at a printout of the last few
issues of the Computers and Society Digest, and comparing the `feel'
of the printed page with the `feel' of the CRT.  Not only is there
no comparision as far as the readability and quality of typographical
display, but the computer seems an inherently cold and insensitive thing.
Look, for example, at the work necessary to personalize individual
electronic postings, compared to the inherently `personal' feel of a
handwritten letter . . .

Perhaps some of it is culturally based, however, since I was raised
with an appreciation of books, typography, and writing.  Nevertheless,
it surely is a more difficult boundary for computers to cross than
something like `creating hypertext links' is.

I do wonder how common my sentiments are - by way of example, is 
there anyone here who prefers reading long documents on the computer
to printing it out and reading the paper copy?

Hmmm...as I think about it, I realize that there *is* a category of
textual information that I prefer to have on-line; program listings.
By extension, I surmise that non-linear information is easier to
digest in an environment that supports *finding* a specific reference
quickly (e.g. hypertext).

So where are we?  Information that is intended to be digested in a
linear fashion, like prose, is apparently easier to appreciate and
enjoy when printed out, and non-linear information, like program
listings are easier to appreciate when on-line.

Another example pops into mind; when I work on articles, I always
use a computer for composition, but significant draft changes are
almost always done by printing out the text and editing by hand
with a pen.  I find it easier to think about what I'm say, and how
I'm saying it, when it's on paper.

Any thoughts?
						-- Dave Taylor