::fibreculture:: Microsoft and the critical classroom

[Phil Graham]

At 11:35 AM 21/03/01 +1100, David Teh wrote:
>is it necessary to treat the software as a TEXT for the purposes of the class/
>course, so as to encourage critical 'readings' (a la lit.crit.)? or are 
>practical
>means (workshops etc) more effective for this?

I certainly wouldn't argue that it is *necessary*, but one of many 
approaches that would help understand the relationships between, say, "top" 
and "bottom" programmers, and between programmers and their institutions, 
and the rest of society. A focus on code-as-text (interesting how the 
"semiotic" relationship gets inverted here) would no doubt reveal the 
sedimentary nature of software code (esp the MS stuff becoming increasingly 
"heavy"), which has some very real and consequential assumptions about 
"information", informatics, and social realities built into them.

I wouldn't be inclined to make it any more necessary than, for instance, 
asking/listening to programmers about what they think they are doing and 
why they do what they do, or giving practical demonstrations of the myriad 
ways in which people "use" specific software, or how it might be better 
arranged. Then there are body-computer interfaces ---- ewwwggg. I hate the 
interfaces, especially screens.

My two-bob's worth.
regards,
Phil