#technology determinism

Postman fue discípulo de Marshall McLuhan, sociólogo y crítico cultural estadunidense.

En su texto “Five Things we Need to Know about Technological Change” explora los vaivenes del determinismo tecnológico y nos invita a una reflexión sobre qué presuponen los cambios tecnológicos. El concepto del open-source es transversal a la crítica de los “pros” y “contras” de la tecnología.

Se piensa constantemente que la tecnología posará ventajas inmensas, o por el otro lado, desventajas inmensas, casi siempre es un “desbalance peligroso”, como menciona Postman. ¿Qué cosas trajo para bien el open-source y qué cosas trajo para mal a nuestro mundo?

1)     “La cultura siempre paga el precio de la tecnología” – Neil Postman

El despegue del open-source fue lento pero contundente. Enfrentando una serie oposición de parte de grandes empresas como Microsoft y el gobierno estadunidense, logro navegar hasta colocarse como una columna vertebral del código hoy en día. El software open source hace posibles labores de distintas empresas.

El OSS (open source software) implica un cambio revolucionario en el manejo de contenido intelectual: es compartir abiertamente, una red de voluntarios intentando hacer un cambio en el mundo digital. Véase Wikipedia, Firefox, Moodle, BitTorrent y otras plataformas que invitan al aprendizaje y la cultura: BitTorrent deja

“What will a new technology do?” “What will a new technology undo?”

Por el otro lado, los creadores del código OSS, son los encargados de sostener muchos modelos de negocios, que dependen completamente del trabajo de miles de voluntarios alrededor del mundo. Podría decirse que el OSS ha permitido que estos colaboradores trabajen sin paga y también va en contra de la “propiedad intelectual”.

2)     “Algunos ganarán, otros perderán” – Neil Postman

 ¿Quiénes se benefician de los programas open source? ¿Quiénes salen afectados? 

Si bien el open source es un paso a favor de los usuarios (léase el punto 3), los que se benefician del open source software esencialmente son las personas “cultas” en el lenguaje técnico y digital. Al no ser user-friendly, es difícil de entender para el público en general.

¿Qué tan educativo puede ser un libro si nadie sabe leerlo? 

3)     “El medio es el mensaje” – Neil Postman

“Detrás de cada tecnología, hay una idea poderosa”. El concepto del open source surge de la idea de democratizar y permitirle el usuario control sobre su experiencia. En si mismo, el open source, representa un avance hacia un mundo digital más igual. 

4)     “Un nuevo medio no agrega algo, cambia todo” – Neil Postman

El OSS revolucionó la manera en la que la tecnología digital avanza, y no solo esta, sino que afecta de manera positiva muchos sectores industriales. Si no se pudiera utilizar el código fuente de alguna empresa, yo no podría hacer un benchmarking y partir desde ahí: tendría que construir desde cero. Es por eso que, el código open source, permite a las industrias avanzar mucho más rápido. Solo se toman las bases, se perfeccionan y aparte, hay muchas personas detrás, democratizando el proceso y volviéndolo más participativo.

5)     “Los medios se mitifican” – Neil Postman

Apakah anda pengguna jasa Commuter Line Jabodetabek? jika iya, pernahkan anda melihat mesin diatas? Nampaknya mesin tersebut sudah tidak asing lagi bagi para pengguna Jasa Commuter Line karena sejak sekitar akhir Desember 2015, PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) mulai mengoperasikan mesin tiket atau C-VIM alias Commuter Line Vending Machine. Mesin ini diciptakan untuk mengajarkan budaya tertib bagi pengguna Commuter Line dan mesin ini membuat penumpang dipaksa membeli tiket secara mandiri tanpa harus dilayani oleh petugas di loket.

Namun, kehadiran Vending Machine ini nampaknya dirasakan berbeda-beda tiap individu. Sebagian orang merasa excited dan lebih senang menggunakan vending machine ini dibandingkan melalui loket tiket, tetapi tidak bagi mereka yang tidak bisa membaca. Vending machine ini dirasa menyulitkan karena mereka tidak bisa menggunakan mesin tersebut tanpa bantuan dari petugas, hal ini menjadi keterpaksaan tersendiri bagi mereka. Selain itu, kehadiran vending machine ini membuat pengguna jasa Commuter Line harus mengantri lebih lama, karena kebanyakan pengguna pemula ketika menggunakan mesin ini cukup menghabiskan banyak waktu sehingga semakin lama antrian semakin panjang dan membuat kesal pengguna lainnya. Padahal sebelumnya meskipun mengantri di loket tiket, antrian yang mereka rasakan tidak begitu lama dibanding dengan pembelian tiket melalui vending machine ini.

Sehingga dapat dilihat bahwa keberadaan Vending machine ini memberi kesan bahwa teknologi memaksa mereka yang tidak bisa membaca untuk menggunakan mesin ini mau tidak mau, suka tidak suka. Selain itu, Vending machine bukan pilihan yang tepat bagi mereka yang sibuk dan mengutamakan efisiensi waktu, oleh karena itu mesin ini dapat dikatakan sebagai Technological Determinism bagi beberapa pihak.

Gambar tersebut merupakan halaman website salah satu SMA di Jakarta. Website tersebut biasa digunakan untuk tes/ujian online para muridnya setiap bulan. Adanya tes online tersebut mengubah pola bertindak siswa dalam menyelesaikan ujian. Misalnya, siswa diperbolehkan mengerjakan pada pukul berapapun di hari ujian yang telah ditentukan dengan durasi pengerjaan yang telah ditentukan. Selain itu, biasanya siswa tidak perlu bergantung dengan koneksi internet dalam ujian. Namun, pada tes online dibutuhkan koneksi internet yang memadai agar pengerjaan tes dapat berjalan sesuai prosedur. Keadaan tersebut menunjukkan adanya determinisme teknologi, yakni teknologi secara radikal menyebabkan adanya perubahan budaya dalam keberadaan manusia yang disertai dengan “paksaan”. Para siswa secara mandiri mengatur waktu pengerjaan ujian, serta dituntut untuk memperoleh fasilitas berupa koneksi internet, baik telah disediakan sekolah maupun secara pribadi.

The music/movie industry has been shapeshifting since the mp3 players first came out, tablets have just presented more ways to consume digital music and movies. But since 2010, the publishing industry has had to dramatically change—at least the companies that will succeed in the digital era have—the way they deliver content. Newspapers and magazines were already adopting the blog format online and even though book readers will never stop loving the tactile factor that books have, e-books have gained some respectful space.

But because the tablet presents a much richer experience by supporting audio, video, accepting input through touch-screen and connecting to the internet to display ads and track behaviour, there is a new generation of publishers who understand this difference in experience and are taking $pecial interest in digital publication.

Magazine apps track behaviour and store data that is sent to the developer every time you open the application, making advertising in these applications very valuable. It has been shown that readers are much more likely to spend money on media within the interactivity of in-app purchases (guilty) as opposed to reading content online, where they can come across a way to download it for free. Same goes for retailers promoting products by placing tablets in-store or at trade shows displaying options and information while you are still immersed in their branding.

For these reasons tablets definitely support the idea behind Technology Determinism (background info in case you missed the post). In fact, on a “personal-computer” level, we have become so accustomed to downloading apps and media on tablets that laptops not only have abandoned CD-ROMs but also present themselves in a hybrid fashion, telling you that they can also “behave” as a tablet.

But fear not, brave reader. Data tracking, in-app purchases and hybrids are not part of the dark force. On the contrary, they are part of a natural course that we are taking towards a brighter future. Well, I’m not so sure about the brighter, but I would never leave you on a negative note questioning yourself whether all this data tracking is being applied to you via your tablet.

A little background:

There was this phrase coined in the 60’s by Marshal McLuhan—The medium is the message—which I always think of when I talk about tablets and interaction. What he meant to say was that the medium delivering a message to us greatly influences our perception of the message. Think about a horror movie trailer: Were you not in a dark room where you can’t see the end of the room, feeling chilled, surrounded powerful speakers blasting weird noises that culminate with a sharp deafening scream.. would you still be impressed by the images you see? Maybe not so much. If the theatre was very bright you would feel safer, if the scream was barely audible you may not absorb its intention and if the pace of the scene did not escalate you would not feel changes to your heart rate giving you anxiety. All these were combined to manipulate you into feeling a particular emotion. This has always been used in commercial ads or political propaganda and is called Media Determinism, which is part of a study named Technology Determinism (TD) originated in the mid-1800’s.

The fellows behind TD talk about something broader, tough. They supports the idea that technology—technical developments, media, science or industrial advancements—are the key mover of changes in society. In other words, since the story telling tribes to the mass media consumption nowadays a lot of social changes occurred and the TD guys say it was all driven by technologies emerging and evolving—print, the assembly line, automation, radio and TV and the internet.

Tablets are another good example of modern TD. I wrote before about these devices being a cheaper and more interesting alternative for businesses to engage with their audience. These devices have increasingly been used to create interactivity, boost reach and build client data. On top of that tablets were designed to be an excellent way to consume media, and succeeded.

Strate (2008), analysing McLuhan's phrase "The medium is the message", argues about the importance a medium has. According to Strate (2008), a medium is even more important that the message because the way words and ideas are allocated and "displayed" constitutes a lot of what's actually transmitted. In my opinion, this discussion is related to the previous "technology determinism" or "social determinism" discussion to the extent that one might claim that the medium has influence over people receiving the message, what leads to the adoption of this medium and subsequent development of a new medium (in a deterministic way), as discussed in Strate's paper (2008). I agree with John Culkin's idea that "we shape our tools and thereafter they shape us" (as cited by Strate, 2008).

Reference

Strate, L. (2008). Studying media as media: McLuhan and the media ecology approach. MediaTropes, 1(1), 127-142.

No sense of place

No sense of place: the impact of electronic media social behavior