A Historiography of Human–Computer Interaction
E. Petrick, "A Historiography of Human–Computer Interaction" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 42, no. 04, pp. 8-23, 2020.
Abstract
This essay examines the state of the history of human–computer interaction (HCI) from multiple fields of study. In many ways, there is a lack of consensus about what we mean by not only HCI but also computer interfaces. I find that the different definitions and approaches found primarily in history and media studies offer many different avenues for scholars to continue exploring how humans and computers relate to each other. A theoretical background on the topic is provided and then historical case studies concerning both computer interfaces and the embodied use of computers are discussed to understand what conversations are held in common and what areas are still left to be explored.
History of HCI
Focus on history of interfces. Two major themes are 1) the tension between augmentation and user-friendliness and 2) the trend toward increasingly invisible interface over time.
Marshal McLuhan (Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man) : "The medium is the message". Give raise to computers as technologies of human augmentation
Friedrich Kittlers (Gramophone, Film, Typewriter) : The computer as universal medium that subsume all other media
Sherry Turkle (The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit): Awareness of HCI being different for different people
Lucy Suchman (Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human Machine Communication) : Understand how people are interacting with new computer technologies from cognitive science and anthropology perspective. Empahsized on computers being real-time, operable, more blackbox.
Historiography of Computing Through the Interface
Pre WWII
Howard Rheingold (Tools for Thoughts: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology): An account of increasing interactivity in computing over time. Computers as the ultimate universal machine and communication medium.
1940s and WWII
Stephen Johnson (Interface Culture) : Interface as translator mediating computer and human.
Ceruzzi: Discussed the tension between user-friendliness and aims of human augmentation, post WWII.
Paul Edward (The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America): Perspective from cybernetics field more concerned with human and machine component as a whole.
1960s and 1970s
Technology enabled individual users sharing one computer by working on different terminals. More one-to-one relationship and computer mediated communication.
Douglas Engelbart (oN-Line System and mouse): Start the ideas that evolve into GUI. Combine individual and computer as a larger information system. Both parties co-evolve together. But this idea eventually lost to user-friendliness trend.
Xerox PARC: Ideas of personal computers that operated in real-time with truly one-to-one relationship with human.
More Recent Work
Focus how people interact with networked computers, each other, portable devices and media.
Case Studies in Computers / Interfaces
Lori Emerson (Reading Writing Interfaces: From the Digital to the Bookbound): Interface mediates between reader, human-authored writing and machine-based writing. Also points out interface become increasingly not open throughout their development, which makes harder to develop co-evolution with human. So human are now consumer instead of content co-producer.
Alexander Galloway (The Interface Effect): The interface makes itself meaningless as it becomes truly invisible.
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum (Track Changes: A literary History of Word Processing): Brings bodies into the picture both int terms of interact with computer and also the definition of interface.
Case Studies in Human / Bodies
Mostly focus on physical attributes body, such as type of perception, and social / cultural body.
Ken Hillis (Digital Sensations: Space, Identity, and Embodiment in Virtual Reality): Points to the disconnect of embodiment and disembodiment in VR
Elizabeth Petrick (Making Computers Accessible: Disability Rights and Digital Technology): Examined shift from text-based to GUI interface and the effect on disabled people.
Nanna Verhoeff (Mobile Screens: The Visual Regime of Navigation): Relationship between vision and touchscreen.
David Parisi (Archaeologies of Touch: Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing): History of haptic technologies and its struggle for incorporation.
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