Microblogs for HCI Remixed

Chapter 1: My Vision Isn’t My Vision: Making a Career Out of Getting Back to Where I Started
Summary
 This chapter describes the story of how William Buxton interacted with a computer for the first time, and the impact it has had on him. His music professor urged him to go try the music system but Buxton did not see how this could be interesting. Buxton drives out to test the music system and discovers that it is an amazing design as he had never seen a computer yet he was able to intuitively interact with it.
Discussion
I find it really interesting how this chapter is titled. The title does not require you to read much before foreshadowing what kind of story this chapter will tell. I found some facts to be very interesting because of the time this experiment if you will takes place. The fact that there were two lines in color to differentiate pitch was impressing. What I liked the most was hearing yet another story of how people got to where they are now, it really makes me think: Where will I end up?

Chapter 4: Drawing on SketchPad: Reflections on Computer Science and HCI
Summary
The author discusses his origins as a professor and how Sutherland's SketchPad influenced his teaching. He did not realize until he started teaching how valuable Sutherland's contributions were to computer science. When he taught computer graphics he was impressed to find out that the SketchPad had anticipated many things related to this subject.

Discussion
I enjoyed how the author really points out many great things that Sutherland contributed with his SketchPad. Another great thing I think Konstan points out is that HCI is critical to computer science. It is nice that people actually think this course is necessary as we move on and perhaps create the new big SketchPad.

Chapter 5: The Mouse, the Demo, and the Big Idea
Summary
 The author initially describes how he grew up in the Sillicon Valley but did not really though he would purse a career in computers. He was inspired by the video where Engelbart introduced the mouse. But he was not necessarily interested in how to program code but instead he wanted to focus on the mechanical objects that change what you can do with a computer.
Discussion
This chapter made focus on a specific point that the author makes when he claims that Engelbart's demo is "The Mother of All Demos". The way that Engelbart presented his demo was more of a strategy to show people that this was a great invention, that it was real time, it was real!!

Chapter 18: Observing Collaboration: Group-Centered Design
Summary
 This chapter introduces how author Saul Greenberg first became interested in computer-supported cooperative work. His interest was inspired by John Tang, an intern at Xerox PARC, who studied small groups interacting over shared visual work surfaces. Observational studies performed by one of Tang's colleagues Sara Bly and later continued by Tang himself produced important observations about shared work surfaces.
Discussion
I found this chapter to be really interesting since it gives a concise example of how CHI allowed Tang to help make important observations in team design. An extremely important factor to a good design is Tang's observation that design must begin with observing the actual workspaces. This was interesting since during my internship all my team members where geographically dispersed over the world and never met a single one.


Chapter 20: Taking Articulation Work Seriously
Summary
 This chapter explains the concept of computer-supported cooperative work more in depth and how the author became particularly interested in this field. Fitzpatrick explains that the central idea of CSCW is articulation work which determines how to effectively distribute resources amongst teams, allocating tasks and managing team member's activities.
Discussion
Personally this chapter was very interested since I believed I want to do what Fitzpatrick describes as articulation work. I want to be very close to technology but would like to focus in managing people's activities and resources to achieve technological products.

Chapter 23: Video, Toys, and Beyond Being There
Summary
This chapter describes some benefits of computer mediated communication. Smith gives us the example of how he used CMC to allow his mom watch his first daughter in a video conference as Smith's mom could not travel to be there in person. The author also talks about  a paper "Beyond Being There", which expresses that CMC has to revolutionize the communication interactions instead of evolving.

Discussion
What I find most interesting about this chapter was what the authors of "Beyond Being There" believed would be important in face-to-face interactions in the future. With today's Skype, Facebook, and other social network sites, it is amazing to realize these services have been foreshadowed more than a decade ago.

Chapter 24: A Simulated Listening Typewriter: John Gould Plays Wizard of Oz
Summary
This chapter discusses the beginning of speech recognition systems. The author Schmandt meets John Gould who at the time (1980) worked in IBM's Watson research center. The paper describes two different type of experiments where John's "Wizard of Oz" technique was used to evaluate speech recognizers.
Discussion
It is quite interesting knowing that this "Wizard of Oz" technique is an accepted method for evolving technologies. Also if the speech recognition equipment was worth $70,000 in the 70's, I cannot imagine how equipment that I am currently using will devaluate in upcoming generations.


Chapter 25: Seeing the Hole in Space
Summary
In this chapter Steve Harrison explains how the "Hole in Space" changed the way he thought about video-mediated communication. The "Hole in Space" was presented to Harrison by two aesthetic researchers in telecommunications named Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz. The Hole in Space was a project where full-sized images of passersby in New York and Los Angeles were projected on a sidewalk on both cities.
Discussion
Even though I understand the point Harrison makes when he mentions that his research lab could not pay much attention to the project presented by the artists, we have to pay attention to other aspects other than our own fields. Even though technology is needed to accomplish these projections, the main idea comes from art which is very far from what we ourselves focus on.

Chapter 26: Edward Tufte’s 1 + 1 = 3
Summary
In this chapter is talking about his experience in an elevator where Tufte's really made him think the design of the open and close buttons were a perfect example to analyze. He claims there are two design sins of the buttons. The first one is a sloppy presentation. The second sin is making the existence of both buttons necessary.

Discussion
I agree with Tufte's 1+1=3 philosophy that excessive presentation of detail can make a design more complex. However, I do not agree with the author thinking the elevator buttons are a perfect example of Tufte's 1+1=3. The details on the elevator buttons are very clear and easy to understand. I too have made the same mistake of closing the elevator doors as someone is approaching it. However, I have done this by accidentally not looking at the buttons, not by not being able to process in my head which button means close or open.


Chapter 27: Typographic Space: A Fusion of Design and Technology
Summary
This chapter describes how graphic design ties into technology, and how it is expressed through typographic forms. It illustrates some of the issues with the Typographic Space system presented by Muriel Cooper's grad students.

Discussion
This chapter made me realize that graphic design is a great tool with which technology works with. I would like to give the example of a website. People other than computer engineers or web masters only analyze how "pretty" websites look, but never pay attention to their functionalities. We have to admit graphic design plays a huge role in how web sites attract visitors.

Chapter 28: Making Sense of Sense Making
Summary
The author challenges the importance of how information is stored. Kidd claims that once information has served the purpose of informing is no longer useful to store this data. The author goes on to discuss that folders hide information and quick search mechanism do not improve accessibility.

Discussion
I like this chapter because there are things with which I agree and things which I don't agree with. Firs of all, I agree with the idea that information once stored might be hard to find after a long time. However, quick search mechanisms can solve this problem for us. Kidd claims that information is only worth for the first time it used by us. I definitely disagree with this claim, as the main purpose of storing data is to keep the information handy for whenever we need it in the near future.


Chapter 34: Revisiting an Ethnocritical Approach to HCI: Verbal Privilege and Translation
Summary
This chapter presents how the author wanted to become more familiar with the Native American culture. On his search, he reads a book by A. Krupat. The book presents the author with all the information he was looking for, but more than that, it provides him ways to think how this story also fits with HCI.

Discussion
I like the example the author gives when he says that HCI workers are much like the ethnohistorians that had to deal with Native Americans and the U.S. Congress. It is particularly interesting to think about this because the ethnohistorians of present time could be like technology consultants.