Computers Pose Important Social Questions Technology Is a Part of God's Creation Introduction Computer Dilemmas Computers are Everywhere Introduction

Computers in Language, Art, and Communication

 

Information is just signs and numbers, while knowledge has semantic value

Heinz Pagels
The Dreams of Reason

 

Word Processing
A word processor is a software program used for creating text documents such as memos, reports, or full-length novels. Most word processorsMicrosoft word include formatting options to change the appearance of the text on the screen or when it is printed, tools to check the spelling of a document, and facilities to aide the writing process.

The advent of the word processor has revolutionized writing, but not everyone would agree the change was for the better. The ordinary writer is now able to produce a document that contains formatted, typeset text that looks as good as any major book publisher could produce. Of course the book written by the ordinary writer might be quite ... ordinary. A book from a major publisher can be assumed (not always correctly) to be rather extraordinary by virtue of the fact that the publisher selected this manuscript over many other possibilities. Many would-be writers of the next "great American novel" can now self-publish their work on the Internet, regardless of the quality of the work.

Most word processors include a cut-and-paste facility. This allows one to electronically copy a section of one document and insert it into another. Convenience of copying makes plagiarism easier to commit, but this is not the extent of the dangers of cut-and-paste. Convenient movement of text within a document can lead to incoherent structuring of the document since one does not have to carefully consider the structure ahead of time -- one can simply rearrange the text after the fact.

A CD-ROM can store over 600 million characters. For comparison the plain text of the BibleImage of the Bible (no formatting, just the text itself) is around 5 million characters. That means a single CD-ROM could contain the text for over 100 books about the size of the Bible. A newer technology, DVD, can hold even more characters (10 times as much as a CD or more, depending on the type of DVD). Such huge storage capacity allows one to easily store, transport, search, and copy text from a large number of books.

New Technical Words Added to the Dictionary
A number of new words have become part of the standard English dictionary because of their popular use in connection with information technology. Examples include networking, e-mail, hyperlink, World Wide Web, PC, Mac, spreadsheet, drag and drop, and the use of "input" as a verb. These changes in language subtlety shift our cultural communication. For example, the use of technical jargon can split society into two classes: a technically savvy group, and a group that is technically naive simply because it lacks the vocabulary. In fact, the constantly shifting information technology landscape forces even the connoisseur to work constantly in an effort to keep abreast of the field.

Computer Art
Artists now use computers to create amazing visual art work. The computer allows the visual artist to combine a number of media (photography, sketches, etc.) into a single image, a dynamically changing image, or even 3-D sculptures (rendered on a 2-D screen or "printed" into a cast object using special equipment). The musician can use the computer for a variety of creative tasks, from inventing new virtual "instruments" with unique sound characteristics to scoring and orchestrating entire symphonies right at the computer keyboard (the letter key kind, or the piano key type).

New Forms of Communication
There have been a few significant inventions of communication technologies throughout history from the invention of writing (Sumerian cuneiform writing dates from 3500 BC), to the invention of the printing press in 1450 AD, to modern electronic broadcasting beginning with the invention of radio in 1895. Each of these technologies produced a flourish of variations. Writing produced writing implements—from chisels to brushes, as well as writing surfaces—from stone tablets to papyrus to paper. The printing press lead to mass-produced Bibles, books, magazines, journals, newspapers, and junk mail. Similarly, information technology has produced a whole array of new communication mediums:
  • e-mail
  • instant messenger
  • websites
  • teleconference
  • webcams
  • answering machines
  • voicemail
  • cell phones
  • two-way pagers

These new technologies share some characteristics with the old technologies, e.g., e-mail can be very like a personal letter, but can also be similar to junk mail (and then it is called "spam").

Previous Page Next Page

 

 
   





These pages were written by Jeffrey L. Nyhoff and Steven H. VanderLeest and edited by Nancy Zylstra
© 2005 Calvin College, All Rights Reserved.

If you encounter technical errors, contact rit@calvin.edu.