Module 1, Task A required the use of a Telnet client to search for an author in the Deakin library database computer.
Success! Being a computer user since the days of DOS, this exercise was a blast from the past. The Telnet client was an old friend and the task was finished quickly and successfully with the information being forwarded to my student email address.
I'm comfortable in this environment where tasks are driven using keywords rather than an interface or menu.
I can't admit to having been in a library to use a catalogue database since 2004 but the system didn't appear to be all that different. Admittedly it didn't have the glossy buttons and the flashy menus down the left hand side but the use of alphanumeric characters to select choices was similar. I found it faster than the usual web based system as there was no waiting for multiple images to load. Overall it was easy to understand and use and I'd be opting for that approach again.
Module 1, Task B involved the Telnet client again (hello old friend) and zipping over to towel.blinkenlights.nl to take a look at the innovation of what could be achieved in this less visual medium.
I'm a fan! This was an awesome display of taking what was available and using it to create something 'outside the box'. Alphanumeric characters have never looked so good.
It is certainly a foundation for taking things to the next level. Rather than looking at the boundaries of the medium, take the other approach and see how far you can stretch it. Is that line in the sand really as close as you think it is?
Without innovative thinking we wouldn't have the interface of the internet that we have today. Blinkenlights was animation in its rawest stages and something that has simply been taken and built upon to have the animation seen regularly across the internet today.
A project like this provokes questions. How long would something like Blinkenlights have taken to produce? How many issues were a part of the process? How many times did the developers wish to give up because they couldn't quite make it work or didn't meet expectations?
Each stage of development is not without problems, glitches or bugs. It's about working within the boundaries of those limitations to produce something inspirational to add value to the development and evolution of the creation.
It offers inspiration to expand upon what is currently considered the industry standard - if something so visual can be created within that forum then what possibilities does that offer for the future? Are we limiting ourselves with the interfaces currently available? Is everything becoming too complicated in a bid to make it user-friendly and not simplistic enough to allow for the evolution of the next generation of internet and animation?
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