In Anthony Dunne’s reading, The Electronics as Post-Optimal Objects he discusses about “smart materials” and how “the new relationships between people and machines are made possible through new reactive materials. It is controlled by stroking the surface.” Technology has advanced in certain ways that all a person really needs to do is to stroke the surface and then its done. Even worse is the dematerialization of objects. Dematerialization varies depending on what it is in relation to, but it is mainly a new approach to the relationship between human being and the object. Taking the “Nook” for example, its a virtual book. Companies have constantly been reinventing objects, such as phones, computers, tablets, and etc. The Nook is a reinvention of books, allowing people to easily swipe through pages and the ability to carry hundreds of books with them wherever they go. Although, some people (myself as well) still prefer the physical object opposed to the “reinvented” one.

Although, I do have to agree that even though technology has gone bonkers with the reinventions, these thin screens that our eyes are glued to, often times help us stay in communication with our peers. As much as it sucks that we are constantly glued to these screens, during school, work, and personal time, often times they do come in handy. As stated in Mark Weiser’s Reading, The Computer for the 21st Century, “Even today people holed in windowless offices before glowing compute screens may not see their fellows for the better part of each day. And in virtual reality, the outside world and all its inhabitants effectively cease to exist. Ubiquitous computers, in contrast, reside in the human world and pose no barrier to personal interactions. If anything, the transparent connections that they offer between different locations and times may tend to bring communities closer together.” We could fight against the advancement and obsession of technology but whether we like it or not, it is happening and at least we have been using it to communicate.

In the beginning, Anthony Dunne quoted a paragraph from a book by E. Manzini. “……their operation and their very state of being is well beyond the manipulation of matter and has more to do with information exchange than with form.” It is clear that he does not agree with the form of the design of electronic objects. Then he uses three perspectives to talk about the electronic objects. There are several disciplines like technological, semiotic, material culture, design research, and literature contains electronic objects. However, at first, electronic objects do not play important roles in these domains. In other words, the electronic as lost object “kept a low profile”. With the development of electronic design, the electronic objects are becoming more visible. Anthony Dunne testifies it in four design approaches. In conclusion, he says that “In a world where practicality and functionality can be taken for granted, the aesthetics of the post-optimal object could provide new experiences of everyday life, new poetic dimensions.” I agree with the views of author very much. Our method of design cannot just focus on the function because users may feel ordinary and blandness. Designers need to introduce aesthetics into life. It is a tendency of design method. I think architects have practice a lot in this field. At the end of the article, he mentions the value of buying a product. It reminds me that nowadays have high technologies applied to architecture but it also cost a lot of money. So are all of the huge investments worth? Will the design be based on the “post-optimal”?

“The most profound technologies are those that disappear.” Here “disappear” means a combination with the computer and life so people cannot perceive the existence of the computer. Take the automatic door as an example, when people across it we may not be aware of the processing of computer. It just happens naturally. The smart phones and laptops have already reached the level of it. They have a low threshold and friendly interface. At the same time, they own the powerful calculation ability. I think in the future, the computer as the extension of people’s brain and sense will become seamless connection with people’s life. However, I disagree with the idea of the limitation of virtual reality. The future could also be a cyborg world.

In the text ‘The Computers of 21^st Century’, Mark Weiser describe the concept of ubiquitous computing. The word ubiquitous means that ‘exiting everywhere’. The article is particularly interesting to read at present-day because the fictions that are explained by the author in the past are now actively present. The term ‘ubiquitous computing’ is also called as pervasive computing and touches upon a wide range of research topics, including distributed computing, mobile computing, location computing, mobile networking, context-aware computing, sensor networks, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence. The advance research in digital technology as well as artificial intelligence made its success possible along the way. However, after reading the text, I slightly feel anxious with the speed of advancement we are engaging with technology. Our research and excitement to delve further into innovating and upgrading things is providing the thinking capacity to machines. It would be terrible to be in the situation where the machines we make have started thinking – (excessive thinking: on their own). After reading the article all I can think about my future is the world where the fictional movies like Transformers, Terminator, Total Recall, Her, Tomorrowland rendering the (actual) reality. The other reading, ‘The Electronic as Post-optimal Object’ by Anthony Dunne touches upon several topics like the electronic as lost object, the electronic as object etc. The idea of solidity of the object and the fluidity of electronic media is explained through materialization and de-materialization.

The then soon to spread ubiquitous nature of computing is described in Mark Weiser’s 1991 text – ‘The computer for the 21^st Century’. Technologies widespread tend to become volatile as they become an indispensable part of our lives. The computers have inherited themselves in our living environmental settings and thus serve us a smooth life. The paper being far-sighted talks about mobile computing like tabs and pads as a role model to replace the current nature of work and furthermore elaborates on future trends of computing. The article is very old and amazes me to the matter of fact as to how much the computers have dramatically changed over the years. The article also crafts a explanation as how we shouldn’t become slaves of computers and instead should their in-charge and use them as tools which make our lives stress-free.

In the writing ‘The Electronic as Post Optimal Object, the text explores development of potential of electronic products keeping aside the context of consumerism. The article analyses the object being a piece of art or the object being electronic by signifying few points like the designs becoming illustrative descriptions. The electronic art thus becomes technologically driven and loses the aesthetic expression. The article rightly stresses on the conception of electronic as post optimal object by pointing out that these objects should be given a poetic dimension as then they would integrate aesthetic experience with everyday life.

The Computer for the 21^st Century

Mark Weiser

• Weiser contrasts the revolution of the written word with the revolution of the personal computer. He states, “writing has integrated itself into our everyday lives, yet the personal computer has not”. I largely agree with Weiser’s assertion that there is an “arcane aura surrounding personal computers…”  The goal for Weiser; for humans to interact with computers without even being consciously aware of that fact. Referred to as ‘compiling’, ‘periphery’, or ’visual invariants’.
  • “…using a computer should be as refreshing as taking a walk in the woods.”

• With regard to devices that transmit and display information, Weiser focuses on two factors; location and scale. Ubiquitous computers must know where they are (physically).
  • Active badge; clip on computers that can identify themselves to receivers placed throughout the building…tracking people/objects.

The Electronic as Post-optimal Object

Anthony Dunne 

• Designers must focus less on how the object is packaged/represented and more how the user interacts with it. Dunne writes, “what they can do, and what sophisticated retailers do, is add unnecessary “stuff” to the object. You can have your camera gold plated”.

• We must address this interaction along a continuum ranging from the societal level down to the individual scale. “The value of material culture for this study is that it draws attention to the complex nature of our relationship to ordinary objects and provides standards against which new electronic objects can be compared.”

“The world of objects was taken over by the world of products and the world of consumption.”

• Dunne makes reference to Susani with regard to how material culture might inform the integration of technology into our everyday lives; “Susani recommends a sensual approach to introducing technology into the home, building on what is already there, and exploring the overlap between the material and immaterial world from an aesthetic and anthropological point of view.

• The Electronic as Object: Design is viewed as a strategy for linking immaterial and the material.
  • The development of “smart materials” is another area where the gap between the electronic and material is being closed, although primarily for technical reasons. Scientists and engineers are developing new materials, designed at a molecular level, that are responsive, dynamic, and almost biological.

“The electronic object is an object on the threshold of materiality.”

• We must strive for a seamless interface between man and his technologies. With these electronic objects, “the interface is everything”.

Weiser offers an interesting approach to the notion of computing and its relationship to human interaction. Its interesting to consider that digital input is based on what we as humans want inputted. As much as computing and technology define a better part of our lives, it is still dependent on the commands prompted by human interaction. If we are to develop technology and systems that surpass human input then will technology become a fully integrated member of our daily life. A machine has to think for itself in order to identify and represent itself. We’ve begun to develop such a system, such as SIRI or Cortana, however, these systems fully rely on the basis of human dependence. If man develops a system that becomes fully aware of itself, then the freedom of technology becomes fully integrated in itself. To see where technology will lead us, the freedom of design and the freedom of technology will have to be developed by itself. so that artificial intelligence creates its own freedom and own identity without restriction.

“At breakfast Sal reads the news. She still prefers the paper form, as do most people.”

This article is showing it’s age.

This video from The Media Lab highlights the contemporary issue of a one size fits all approach to personal computing. It’s connection is loose with the Weiser article, but I believe it brings up a very important issue, being that of identity. Weiser is seemingly theorizing to a future that has already solved the issue of raised by the video, a future where physical digital objects no longer define the human-computer interaction, instead this interaction is defined by the digital human-computer interaction. The digital-human is our identity (our actions, characteristics, location etc) as translated by the computer. Enabled by the popularity of a networked society, this identity is already beginning to take shape today, but with the profitability of large scale data collection as the driving factor. If we are to see a future where the computer fades into the background of life, or fully dematerializes, this digital identity must be reclaimed in full from those who currently control it.