adaptive path » blog » blog archive » A Conversation with Steven Johnson, Part 2 as always interesting stuff from Johnson, although I still have some trouble with his definition of interface, which doesn't really leave much room for distinguishing between the surface structure for interacting with computers (this is what I'd call the interface layer) and the deep structure via which the computer handles the data (which I'd call the algorithmic and database layers). I think I see why he wants to roll all these together under the label "interface", for tying them together allows for a particular way of addressing the future of computers and information, but by vesting "interface" with a meaning that goes far beyond just the inputs and outputs of a computer system it robs a whole other more established approach of it's linguistic infrastructure, and in the end just muddies up the very issue he wishes to bring insight to.
Posted by William Blaze at August 2, 2006 06:34 AM