For me, reading this was like trying to decipher hyroglyphics. While I realize the importance of technological know how in the library world, I prefer good old fashioned book side of librarianship, not the new world order of the techno boom. The more I clicked on the links in this article to find out the definition of say PCI, the more entrenched in the mud I became. Now, learning about information technology does not excited me, but I do realize the importance of it and would like to know more than I do, but this wiki just left me scratching my head.
Computer History Museum http://www.computerhistor.org/
I enjoyed this website. I don't know if the words "history" and "museum" took away from the coldness of "computer" for me, but it seemed to add warmth to technical topics in my opinion. The online exhibit of "The Babbage Engine" caught my eye and that's what I focused on.
- I realized halfway through it that the name Babbage sounded familiar because there used to be a computer store in a mall near me when I was little called Babbages!
- I think its fascinating that none of his designs were physically realized in his time, but what if the would have been? How much further would technology be today??
- It was surprising to see that after Babbage, there was no continuous line of development to automate computation.
1 comment:
I agreed with a lot of the comments you made. I normally get the same "cold" feeling you described when learning about computers. Something about the fact that machines are more and more frequently taking the place of human interaction these days. The Computer History Museum website did in fact seem to make computers more personal. One thing that caught my eye that explains this is their motto "Where computer history comes alive." This seems to make computers more personal rather than pieces of machinery.
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