New Media Reader: Ch. 21-25

Chronology:

• 1974: Theodor Nelson publishes "Computer Lib" and Augusto Boal publishes "Teatro do Oprimido"
  
• 1975: Nicholas Negroponte publishes "From Soft Architecture Machines"
• 1976: Joseph Weizenbaum publishes "From Computer Power and Human Reason From Judgment to Calculation"
• 1977: Myron Krueger publishes "Responsive Environments"

Summary:

• Nelson envisioned the creative future of computing. Instead of being in awe of their computational power, he saw computers as new media hotspots.
• He also, controversially, believed that these new interfaces and designs for computers should be accessible to the public and should even be placed in a publicly open publishing domain.
• Boal used new media techniques to create a new artform. He wanted to dissolve the line between viewer and participant by having the two interact and become one inter meshed performance piece.
• Negroponte was instrumental in moving physical space into virtual space. By using computers to simulate the physical world, he was able to generate structures in virtual environments to see how they would hold up.
• Weizenbaum created the program ELIZA that would respond to human queries. The program could take on different personalities and would respond accordingly.
• He also created a program called DOCTOR that could act as a surrogate psychotherapist.
• Krueger lived by the maxim "response is the medium" which meant that that user interaction and the interplay between machine and user should be the focus of software development.