Topic 6 - A brief history of the Computer and Internet

The lecture this week covered the history of computers and the internet – rather briefly of course. The actual idea of ‘computing’ is not just a modern concept. Ancient nations have used an Abacus to compute large numbers. More recently, Charles Babbage created machines and engines that could process mathematical tables. The commercial computers we have today are derived from his innovations.

Computer companies are responsible for the commercialisation and mass production of computers. Originally, main-frame computers were used by the military, and then only large companies that could afford them. Similarly, the internet was developed in its infancy by the US Department of Defence. ARPANET was spawned, and overrun by hackers who used it for personal gain. But the internet only really became accessible to the not so tech savvy person in the 1990s.

The 1990s saw the creation of the operating system which allowed users to see a graphical representation of the contents of their computer. Companies such as Apple and Microsoft were instrumental in developing these systems, which were very profitable. Another graphical user interface was web browsers, which allowed people to look at web pages created with HTML.

The required reading covered new media. Its message is basically that media is only new if it transforms a medium, or if it provides something new for society. For instance, the DVD is a new development in audiovisual technology, but it’s only a marginal improvement on the VCR. Conversely the internet has been arguably the most significant change in media. It has revolutionized the way information is dispersed and communicated.

Roughly one week after reading about new communication technology, i decided to finally start my tutorial task. It was again related to Wikipedia, and the articles i chose to read were on the indoor version of football called futsal, and one of my favorite TV shows: Arrested Development.

The article on futsal was short and concise. It covered the basic history behind the game and some of its rules. Despite its brevity, it did have an abundance of links to other articles about futsal. I suppose its lack of references could be forgiven for this very reason. Besides, it seemed accurate enough - however certain historical facts were unnecessarily omitted. It failed to respect or give any attention to the background of this game - its origins in Brazil and its existence and popularity in times before this game became officially administered. This was disappointing. Nevertheless, it did cover the important facts. The article thoughtfully linked to other articles related to futsal, which prevented it from becoming overtly large. It stuck to this and most of the other Wikipedia guidelines effectively. It also showed no bias and was largely objective.

So for this article all that i would add would be a bit of background information as to how futsal started.

The second article i read was on the cancelled television show Arrested Development. My first impression was that this was going to be a big article - and it was. But it was clear and concise and certainly kept me interested. I couldn't say how accurate the article was, because there is a lot of background information on the show - but for the most part it seemed accurate. It was fair in the sense that it outlined its commercial failings, however the part about the critical acclaim it had received could be considered biased. Out of the 6 reviews it showed in the article, only one was negative (it was written by Germaine Greer, go figure.) Other than that i would consider it a fine Wikipedia article - it did this great show justice without being overtly one-sided. If i was to change anything, perhaps i would have a relatively even number of positive and negative reviews (Greers' might be the only negative review written on the show, maybe it is unbiased after all.)