Author Archives: Annette Smith

WWW vs. Gutenberg: A Fair Comparison?

Localization of Language in Digital Text on the Internet Introduction We have been considering the changing spaces of text and text technologies, and the impact this has had on teaching, learning and communication. In Bolter (2009) the author discusses “the … Continue reading

Posted in Text | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rip.mix.feed connections: Or coming late to the party

This semester has been a bit of a personal struggle, but I wanted to try and participate in the rip.mix.feed activity. While I thought I would create a digital story about the life I have in SecondLife using JayCut or … Continue reading

Posted in Making Connections, Reflections, Rip.Mix.Feed, Technology, Text | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Symbolic Script: Zapotec Writing in the First Millenium BCE

One of the significant milestones of human cultural development has been the creation of symbolic systems to represent and communicate thought. Writing systems based on this capability have allowed our species to externalize ideas, store them for future reference, and … Continue reading

Posted in Research Paper | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Evolution of Loss – Commentary on O’Donnell

In “The Virtual Library: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed” James O’Donnell both charts the surprisingly long history of the concept of the virtual library, and the unavoidable demise of the library as we conceive of it today (O’Donnell, 1994). … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary 1 | Leave a comment

Technology: Evolve or Die?

Technology is the central adaptation of humans. We create new technologies to solve every problem we have ever encountered. Does technology evolve? Or does it just seem that way? Saturn: Evolution of Technology Of course, technology can’t evolve because it … Continue reading

Posted in Technology | 1 Comment

What is text and why is it so important to us?

For me text is a natural extension of our language. It was an inevitable step we took in our development along with other technologies, like tool making. The development of systems to save and repeat our spoken utterances, to make … Continue reading

Posted in Text | Leave a comment

Text as an evolutionary imperative

Picture By perpetualplum Sue Clark I chose this image from Aesop’s Fables because for me, text and technology is an extension of the characteristic that, in my mind anyway, makes us human: The transmission of culture and knowledge to our … Continue reading

Posted in Image Feed (Flickr), Technology, Text | 4 Comments