MGRA501.1

Electronic space is a term that is known to be associated within the cultural and social experiences of some that already exists, these spaces are built from the knowledge of the designers that have been put together. They share information that is often malleable and non-linear. Electronic objects have connections in material culture and the notion of a typed word that is conducted into the electronic spaces. It allows a digital archaeology that also is inspired by the material cultures. Although it is important of how the users are engaging with these digital objects, as the softwares are rapidly developing and the designers are generating new materials for the upcoming generations. Mobile phones, computers and E-books are all examples of electronic space, however, these substances have changed the way the users take in the information. It is important for the designers to know the effects of the meaning of mediums in electronic spaces. They are responsible for technology ‘as we are responsible for tidying up our grammar’ which directs to the possibilities of ‘ecology’ (McLuhan, 2013). The reconstruction in electronic spaces has affected the designer and the user in such ways that the information is represented or communicated differently. The designer creates a digital object where the user can interact and supply information, although it is restricted for the users to import this, once the object has been created it is impossible to modify it. The non-linearity of the electronic spaces are being issued between the designer and the user, meaning it consists of a path that is formed of branching out into other subjects. The ‘author’ supplies this information according to the meaning behind the medium also. This essay will identify and discuss the issues constructed for both, the designer and the user in subject of electronic spaces that provide information.
Literacy theories and computer texts have converged recently, which is why todays authors consider historical literature and popular cultures. It is then combined to engage with the reader, therefore this is done within the environments they're both in such as the World Wide Web and books. Roland Barthes suggests that the electronic words and images have many paths that he describes as ‘open-ended, perpetually unfinished textuality’, this comes from the terms; network, path, web, link and node. Networks are interactive, for which means they don't have a beginning; ’several entrances’ and give many ‘paths’ to chose from, in other words, the designer creates this in a way that the user will have more than one choice. The development of the World Wide Web provides the users with electronic pages that could be read. It all started appearing in the 1990’s, although it was the user that made this extraordinary. Reading materials such as web pages contains and connects the other sources of information that the user could directly get to from one website to another—designers do this to make the pages interactive for the user, this is called Hyperlinks (Landow, 2006: 5). They are created in a different format that it would only work if the designer includes the ‘URL’, this is presented in a different format on the web page for the user to understand that its there for two purposes. Virtual art also transformed into social communications through time and the developments of the electronics—they were designed so that the users would have access to other networks through the internet and mobile phones (Popper, 2007).
Everything around us is changing, ‘family, neighbourhood, job, government, and relations with others’. Technology is major and very important in our everyday life, it is political, social and environmental, however, the developing and reshaping of these within time, effects the designers in producing things for the users. Society for example, it is controlled by the nature of media, as in the way people communicate in words, pictograms and many more. Alphabets are the beginning of a child progressing up into thinking and acting in a certain way towards others, McLuhan (1967) expresses ‘…it is based on psychological responses and concepts conditioned by the former..’ meaning designers also have to keep up with the new generations as things are developing rapidly through technology, it will do the same job within.Alike with the printing process, Gutenberg had developed and become part of the digital nature, it needs involvement and unification to achieve a certain standard, although it is impossible to understand the changes within the process of media without the knowledge. The ‘Medium is the message’ (Finkelstein, 1968: 7-10) is an interpretation of the technology that is constantly coming up with new versions and better designs. It changes in the way the users experience living within the world of technology— in more depth it gives an understanding of a “medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (McLuhan, 1967) . Moreover, deconstruction has had huge influences in psychology, literary theory, cultural studies and more, that Derrida who was one of the famous philosophers had an idea that responsibility was associated with public behaviours and other general theories of authors. Roland Barthes adds a literary theory by stating ‘The Death of the Author’ (Burke, 1992) which is influenced by the scientific objectives, although it conveys the notion of the author, it is ‘no longer means to an end’ in other words, it has transformed the modern text to which gives its transparent meaning of the absence of the author.
The concept of electronic features have changed extensively which is why it’s called ‘The new media’. It has effected how the object is used or what it is functioned for. The designers produce things differently and electronics do more than what its used for, this effects the way the user interacts with the electronic objects and the purpose of the object becomes obvious. Some results show that supplies of audiovisual medias and contents have ‘increased choice of many’, televisions are a major part of this, it enables you to record and storage programmes, also has access to web so its not only functioned to do one thing (Manovich, 2001, 20-22). The notion of intertexual systems are malleable, it enables more flexibility for the user, in importing and exporting data, although you cannot do this with printed products such as books (Mattelart, 1992)—printed information has only one path, one route, much alike with the Gutenberg Bible. Gutenberg’s idea was to create text with ink on paper using a press that was designed to produce printed books,—‘Old media’ is linear, which the user can only read one way (British Library, 2013) .One of the main issues in printed text is the referenced (or linked) materials are spatially apart from the texts, even-though these are continued on the bibliography. On the other hand, electronic hypertext includes the references individually which this makes it easy for the user to navigate around on or within the object (Landow, 2006: 3-4) .
Designers are constantly changing the electronic objects, Lev Manovich examines of how a new media is not something once and for all, but something that can exist in different, potentially infinite versions’. In other words digital technology will never become extinct. Manovich implicates of what the ‘old media involved’ in a ‘human creator who manually assembled textual, visual, and/or audio elements’ called multi-sequential, He describes the old media being designed my a ‘human’, that implicates the contrasting ‘new media’ which is ‘characterised by variability’, it gives one object only one copy however with different versions, for example social networking sites (twitter, Facebook etc), the designers produce these digitally to make it easier to access for the user (Manovich, 2001: 18). The aspects in media are in forms and contents which vary in resolution, it can either be generated on interest or beforehand from the database, they become functional in its cultural form. Programmes for example, they refer back to the objects the users can branch into in depth, like a ‘tree structure’, photoshop is one of them. ’The compatibility between graphic design, illustration, animation and visual effects softwares plays key role in shaping visual and spatial forms of the software age..’ that users end up creating designs from an existing template on these softwares that combines multiple choices, ‘…previously it only existed within distinct physical or computer media’ (Colson, 2007). Users are targeted to buy these programmes which is controversial even though software’s can be created by any, quite similar to making and writing books—without templates users are more likely to work freely other than by changing text, colour, distorting images etc—‘And what would be the role of the designer in a truly do-it-yourself economy’, if the users were all to create their own programmes (Landow, 2006).
These softwares are designed to ‘value your work in real time, so that you are actually consuming your own labour’, not only the designers think about the simplicity of the templates for the user, the user will import more information on them. The designers think about the economy, the more users that create it themselves, the more people will have demand opportunities to do so. There will also be more adaptation within the methods of designers. Softwares are all designed to do a particular job such as Microsoft Powerpoint, Photoshop and Word—they are functioned to either import work onto to present in a particular format, one to manipulate imagery and the other is used commonly for spell checks. Edward Tufte (2003) describes powerpoint as ‘Evil’ along side says ‘…But rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it’ (Mattelart, 1992), putting an agreement to this issue, it does change the users thoughts about the software, it has many templates and designs that lead the user into using rather than it creating a new one—users are more aware of the designs on the templates rather than the text they input onto the software, which is a problem. Companies particularly have concepts of using a template where users can interact within the digital equipments. One of Europe’s favourites are the interactive ad; ’talk talk- The X-Factor’ (2011), the reality softwares and ‘sound reactors’ and ‘performances could be viewed in a searchable gallery’, contrasting hyperlinks it can be ‘easy’ and entertaining for the user. The industries are all using interactive networks to engage with the user (audience) depending on what their concept is, designers do this either for financial and economical reasons or its just the idea of developing and bringing new networks out for upcoming generations.
Overall, It is important that designers produce softwares that share the information in notions of the electronic space, in order to get the users to interact with the developing technological objects. The designers have compared the World Wide Web and printed books to come up with a solution of making the books digital. Networks are all giving their users the option to decide on which path to take, as it is an object that can be easily changed. This knowledge of combining the old and the new has given great ideas such as E-books, it is tangible by size and weight and very similar to printed books. Designers have worked on and improved in building such networks that all include hyperlinks that navigates the user around. It has broadened the space and interactions between other networks—secondly, most networks are using templates in order to create a free designed idea that can lead the user on adapting to their own work. All other software based objects use free templates, for example mobile phones, the SMS and MMS messages have a white screen with few options of sending texts, importing a video or image, this is also non-linear, todays mobile phones allows the users to access the internet, emails and other sources. Open-source softwares is the definition of a public collaboration of computer softwares, that the programmers combine to create and improve in a frame.

Information in an electronic space is often malleable and non-linear. Identify and discuss the issues of authorship that this raises for both the designer & the user. Use a selection of relevant practice and theory in your answer.

Bibliography

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