User:Colm/RWRM-year2-project-proposal-0.2.2
- project name: tangible tools
- project proposal v0.2.2
- projects that inspire this work:
- http://p-dpa.net/
- https://monoskop.org/Monoskop
- https://news.ycombinator.com/news
- http://codevisually.com/
- https://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
- http://webtoolsweekly.com/
- project one liner:
a collection of tools I can stand by
- project description:
Tangible tools aims to bring together a set of software tools and processes that reveal their background activity while still giving powerful computing functionality.
- Technology is typically seen as a problem-solver, and well-designed technology is supposed to follow an according aesthetic of efficiency, ease and—ultimately—automation.*
To Save Everything, Click Here — Evgeny Morozov
The tendency towards an aesthetic of efficiency could be looked at from the perspective of the tool function, but possibly also from the understanding that the users are so disconnected from the workings of the machine, they have no interest in anything else than efficiency. In the not so distant future a point of no return might be reached where this disconnect is total. Settings will be deployed from previously collected information systems and processes won't be actively launched, but ubiquitously happen, in logical sequences that don't need input anymore. Utlimate efficiency. Total trust in the assistance.
What are the tools that combat this trend of efficiency? Is it like the 4th wall? Are there hardware or software projects that seek to explain the systems they employ. Do these exist also in parallel of a potential efficiency? How do we deal with the learning curves in our tools? Why do we require of software tools to be intuitive?
Apart from the search and collection of contemporary and past tools that seek to give function and knowledge, what are the specifics of the broader environment that is needed for the individuation of a computer user to happen?