Reading 1: Laurenl Schwulst, My Website is a Shifting House...
This reading made some interesting points that I had thought about before even taking this course. I have considered in the past the difference between browsing the web back when I was a kid compared go now. I've thought about how the internet to me is mostly just Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, or Reddit lately. Sometimes Tumblr. Some others use Twitter. All can be accessed on apps optimized for mobile use already, so why even get on a computer most of the time? When I was a kid, I remember browsing the web with my friend. We would play small flash games, browse blogs and early meme sites, watch videos, etc. The internet felt so big, but now even though it is bigger than ever it feels very small due to the domination of social media.


Reading 2: Ursula K. Le Guin, A Rant on Technology
I found this to be an interesting perspective I had not considered before. I do wonder sometimes how mundane things are made, I cannot make them either. I still never consdiered a plastic ballpoint pen to be a form of technology even though I don't know how to make one with my own hands. We have become to accustomed to having every little thing we need at our fingertips, we forget that those little things were once hi-tech.


Reading 3: J.R. Carpenter, A Handmade Web
I originally the term "handmade web" to be an interesting concept at the beginning of this class. I only really think about handmade things in terms of traditional media or crafts. I never considered anything digital to really be handmade (aside from digital illustration, that is). I knew people would make websites themselves, coding without software doing it for them, but was that considered handmade? I didn't really understand until I started coding and making websites myself. It is a craft in and of itself, and feels the same as sculpting in a way. It does feel like I am creating something entirely handmade. I also liked the point that originally the web was meant for individuals to have online identities created through their own websites, instead of a select few large platforms hosting the online identities of individuals. It honestly makes me sad to think about what could have been. When I consider making my own website, I think, who is going to visit? I will never get as much traffic as I would on Instagram, for example. It just isn't how the internet is used nowadays. Imagining a world where instead of Instagram pages we all had our own completely custom websites where we had free reign is sort of melancholic to me. I would like to have my own website for my art, for people to commission me for paintings and for me to sell my paintings and for me to display my portfolio and even an everyday blog to display my life the way we do on Instagram, but no one would care to visit because we do have Instagram. Maybe people want everything to be at their fingertips so they can click away to another profile the moment they get bored. I suppose I am guilty as well.


Reading 4: Taeyoon Choi, Hello World!
One point I found interesting was the idea of commodifying computers so much society generally doesn't even know how they work, or doesn't think about it. When I was young, computers were a special thing. We werent on them all the time and we did not have access to them 24/7. Granted, I was a child so I would really only use them for playing games. Even as a teenager when I got my first smartphone I was not on a computer nearly as often as I am now (I am including phones as computers). Computers are so ingrained in our lives now that no one considers the inner workings.


Reading 5: Callum Copley, A Friend is Writing
While I found the website overall to be an entertaining experience, I found it hard to pay attention to the reading without getting distracted by the moving text or feeling a slight sense of anxiety like I should be reading faster. I found the reading to be interesting though once I let the text all appear and I could easily pay attention to the information I was reading. I don't have much to say about it, though one point was relateable to me. The difference between how some people treat instant messaging -- some people treat it as an ongoing conversation like you'd have with someone in person or over a call, and some people treat it as you would an email to be picked back up later. I used to tell my friends that I had to go when we were chatting over an instant messenger or text, but now I typically just leave the message unread and pick it back up when I am able to. I hadn't considered that some people may think it is rude to leave a text message conversation and pick it up later.


Reading 6: Frank Chimero, The Web's Grain
I was born in 1997, so I was not online in the '90s, but I was in the early 2000s and I do remember the dial-up sound well. I relate heavily to the awe of being online when I was younger, and now it feels sort of sad and normal. Like, I'm online TOO MUCH now. As for the rest of the reading, one point that stood out to me was the initial creation of a website being the content and THEN the arrangement, because a website is not just a box.


Reading 7: Mindy Seu, The Poetry of Tools
I do not have much of a comment for this. This collection of work was very interesting to look through and read about. I think it is very beneficial to see more tech-based works that have been created by other artists, everywhere from physical installations to websites that exist online.


Reading 8: Frank Chimero, The Good Room
Describing technology as changing from "a tool that we use to a place that we live" is a really good way of putting it. I feel we all live in technology nowadays, like we aren't really physically here. The wrister's description of the New York library was very enticing. I've been interested in the ideas of libraries lately. I honestly have not looked in a book in so long, it felt very foreign to me to go to our school library recently and pick out books and actually read/look through them. I think I want a little less tech and a little more physicality in my life. The idea that I could just walk in and access all of that information for free was also very exciting yet...uncomfortable to me in a way. Like it felt wrong, it shouldn't be that easy. (sure, you have to be a student to check out books, but this applies to libraries in general.) As for web commercialization, I hate it. I miss when the web was a free place for creative expression. Now, everyone is just trying to sell you something or buy something. People try to sell themselves (influencers) and abandon creativity, authenticity, and originality for trends to get more views. I do truly miss when even famous people on the internet were just famous for being authentic and goofy and creative. I also am so tired of the constant need to spend money, with everyone online encouraging you to. I sometimes even just miss cable TV. I barely even watch TV anymore just because I don't have the attention to, much less get through a whole book even though as a teenager I'd be able to breeze through books within a few days. The encouragement in this reading to bring your attention back to reading books instead of scrolling your phone is very soothing to me, I want to be able to focus again and take things slow instead of watching 10 second video after 10 second video on Instagram reels. While I do enjoy the benefits of having my phone and being able to communicate with friends and share things I do, I also recognize the need to put it down and step away more often than not.