If media become “demassified” to serve individual wants, it will not be by throwing on lazy readers the arduous task of searching vast information bases, but by programming computers heuristically to give particular readers more of what they chose last time. Computer-aided instructional programs similarly assess students’ past performance before providing the instruction they need. The lines between publication and conversation vanish in this sort of system. Socrates’ concern that writing would warp the flow of intelligence can at last be set to rest. Writing can become dialogue.
Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom, Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press, 1983, pp. 230-1.
He goes on to suggest that electronic media tend toward freedom, but we have to craft policy to keep them that way.
5 Comments
Hi Alex, love the post – and the source’s age – and the Socratic reference. Explains how I stumbled upon it I guess (as a quick scan of my facebook ‘interests’ reveal. I’m fascinated by the two-way flows, the constantly connected power of the network and the community-derived self.
I’ll add your blog to those I need to keep regular tabs on. Best
dang, 1983 … impressive.
Yeah, Pool really knew his stuff. I think he’s desperately underappreciated.
in your opinion, is Technologies of Freedom the best place to start?
Actually, maybe Technologies Without Boundaries. In both cases, you have to read it in historical context–it’s not all as prophetic as the above quote. But I think the way he thinks about the tech is useful.