Week 14
Comments on Abstracting Craft, The Practiced Digital Hand by Malcolm McCullough
This article associated the concept of "craft" to the technology that we have today. We think of a craft as a kind of art form, something that takes practice, something that takes a long time to perfect even to the point where you don’t even have to think about what you are doing, you are just doing it. Usually we think of craft as something we do with our hands, something we can manipulate. Technology has, in a way, stunted that. Thinking about a computer decades ago, we were limited to a keyboard and mouse, where there was not much room for creativity and expression. In addition, technology moved so fast, that it was difficult to take your time with it, to make it a craft.
McCullough talks about the good and the bad in new technology, the great technological advances and the unfortunate setbacks. Although at first, it seemed that craft would be impossible with computers, the author mentions software like CAD, which allowed an individual to create like people once did with wet clay. I feel that McCullough wants something great to come out of a person, not the computer. He wants that masterpiece not created by the computer, not for the computer to do all the work, but for the human to create something great.
I feel that Apple has done a great job with making their technology transparent to the user. Products like the new iPad have really found a way to integrate into an individual’s life. No longer does the user see themselves using a device, rather something that is an extension of themselves. When a user is holding an iPad, he/she doesn’t intentionally think that he/she is holding a camera, or a computer, it is just something that he/she uses. I feel that some Apple products have matured to the point where people can be creative with it and create something great.