Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Software: Software is a set of instructions, data, or programs that are used to operate computers and carry out particular activities. It is the antithesis of hardware, which refers to a computer's external components. See also Computers, Computer programming, Hardware. _____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Jaron Lanier on Software - Dictionary of Arguments
I 13 Software/Lanier: Software is subject to a strict lock-in process. I 17 Definition Lock-in/Lanier: happens when many other programs have been tailored to work with a particular program. >Programming, >Computer languages. I 18 E.g. Lock-in: MIDI, the possibility invented by Dave Smith in the early 1980s to display musical notes by automatically transcribing the keystrokes on a synthesizer digitally. Thus, only mosaic-shaped transitions could be represented, but not continuous transitions. This is how it has remained until today, as MIDI has become the exclusive standard. I 23 For example, lock-in: UNIX; UNIX cannot tell whether a person or a program has pressed the return key. It is an exaggerated belief in discrete, abstract symbols and a lack of believe in temporal, continuous, non-abstract reality. I 28 MIDI: the digital system, which represents people and advertisements in such a way that it is possible to compare them, has a clear resemblance to MIDI. I 25 Xanadu/Software/Nelson, Ted/Lanier: the first draft for a World Wide Web, Ted Nelson's Xanadu, was thinking of a single huge overall file. I 33 UNIX/Lanier: UNIX is characterized by the inability to deal with time as people experience it. I 33 Computer Graphics/Lanier: the digital world looks better than it sounds because a community of digital activists, including people from Xerox Parc (especially Alan Kay), Apple, Adobe and universities (especially Don Knuth at Stanford) protected us from rigid, ugly fonts and other visual elements that we would not have been able to get rid of. >Human Machine Communication._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Lanier I Jaron Lanier You are not a Gadget. A Manifesto, New York 2010 German Edition: Gadget: Warum die Zukunft uns noch braucht Frankfurt/M. 2012 |
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