Comments on: Sims Creator on the Social Aspects of Computers

By: Laptops » Blog Archive » Bokardo Sims Creator on the Social Aspects

Laptops » Blog Archive » Bokardo Sims Creator on the Social Aspects — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:16:36 +0000

[...] Bokardo Sims Creator on the Social Aspects of ComputersA Blog about Designing for Web 2.0 by Joshua Porter, covering design trends, interesting interfaces, and topics like authority, attention, and recommendation systems. [...]

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:11:47 +0000

Thanks for the references, Andrew and Anon. I will check those out!

I like this way of talking about computers…because it keeps the power in the hands of the humans, and makes the tool distinction clear. When we think of computers as tools, we do better design, I think.

By: Anon Coward

Anon Coward — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:02:47 +0000

"Mind amplification" is a term coined by Howard Rheingold in his seminal book Tools for Thought. See chapter seven, Machines to Think With for more details.

By: The Internet is People » Document » Will Wright: computers enhance our people skills

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 09:37:42 +0000

[...] Bokardo.com highlights a Wired editorial by WIll Wright, creator of SimCity, SimEarth, The Sims et al. I was particularly drawn by this quote: Think of it this way: Most technologies can be seen as an enhancement of some part of our bodies (car/legs, house/skin, TV/senses). From the start, computers have been understood as an extension of the human brain; the first computers were referred to as mechanical brains and analytical engines. We saw their primary value as automated number crunchers that far exceeded our own meager abilities. [...]

By: Sims Creator Speaks on the Social Aspects of Computers « Digged Stories

Sims Creator Speaks on the Social Aspects of Computers « Digged Stories — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 05:26:19 +0000

[...] read more | digg story [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 04:35:38 +0000

Most or all of human technology can be seen in these terms. I think it’s absolutely correct that we use computers and the web to enhance and extend our social skills and relationships. I think it’s more incorrect to assume that computer technology is somehow neutral or doesn’t change us at all.

You might look at Edward Hall’s “Beyond Culture” for an anthropological examination of how humans extend and amplify our abilities, preferences, and relationships through all sorts of cultural constructs, many of them technological.

By: Justin Thorp

Justin Thorp — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 02:33:51 +0000

I find it ironic that the creator of The Sims would say that computers “enhance our people skills.” Did the Sims create a “second life” for people to hide behind and not face the reality of real life? This seems like it would be a detriment to people skills.

Don’t get me wrong. I love computers and the social web. I just don’t think it has “enhanced our people skills.” I would definitely say it has changed the nature of how we interact with people.

We just need to make sure we keep thing in perspective.