>
>
> I do think that what you (Alex) are pointing out is a very real
> phenomenon and that despite all our great toys and the work of
> teachers like Marcel the perspective on programming that society at
> large has is still close to the one you outline and I do think this
> affects our tools. For example ChucK is heavily influenced by C/C++
> which in turn is heavily influenced by this corporate structure
> (fortunately there are plenty of other influences quite contrary to
> this!).
the whole idea of hijacking the developments which arise from
corporate culture is the essence of hacking, no? Probably an
oversimplification, obviously.
But without the ugly consumerism which brought rise to the Apple Mac
I might never have discovered MaxMSP and might never have found an
outlet for creativity. I hate the idea of being a slave to the
consumerist machine, but my awareness of its existence surely helps
me gain perspective on my craft.
I heard a lecture by one of the SETI scientists a while ago, who
lauded the consumerist approach to technology because it meant that
the price of doing interesting science becomes cheaper. I believe she
was talking about a certain piece of hardware which not that long ago
was only available to a handful of scientists, but since then has
been applied to some kind of commercial product which meant that they
could now buy hundreds of them for what only a few years ago they
could only buy a handful with.
sorry for the vague ramblings...
Marcel
Received on Thu Apr 03 2008 - 14:08:52 BST