Steven Johnson, Interface Culture
At last year's CHI, there were many questions raised in the alt.chi sessions about the proper method of evaluation for interactive technologies. The answer, it seemed to me, was obvious: criticism, of the sort applied to art, architecture, literature and other creative endeavors. "Interface Culture" attempts exactly that, covering topics like links or the desktop with the same mix of history, judgement, and speculation that one might find in a book review or a column on an art exhibition. If none of his conclusions seem particularly profound today, Johnson should be commended for the fact that few of them seem dated either - an impressive feat for a book on digital culture written over ten years ago. His examples (Engelbart's famous demo, Vannevar Bush's "As We May Think", Myst, Suck, the Mac GUI, and even HTML frames) feel like the beginnings of a tradition in interface design rather than the passing fads of a previous generation. His comparison of the interface with the novels of Dickens is particularly suggestive: both, Johnson argues, are a way of coming to terms with a massive reordering of society and an attempt to make sense of its new structure. Probably the most interesting and relevant section of the book, however, is the last chapter, a series of opposing imperatives whose conflict and resolution will determine the future character of our interface culture: fragmentation vs. synthesis, mainstream vs. avant-garde, the individual vs. society. These forces continue to contend today, and their struggles we should continue to investigate and comprehend through the medium of criticism. It is for the provocation to do so that I am most glad to have read this book and I trust it will provide a useful touchstone as I attempt the task.