Nakamura Reading & Eye Candy

For me it is both good and bad that I am able to read and based upon which mentioned companies is a dead give away for the time period that articles or journals are written in. I say that because whenever we read and someone mentions myspace accounts people frown and say who does that. So when this article mentions Excite and Lycos I know that we are somewhere around or before the year 2000's. Its nothing bad or discrediting, its just interesting that technology advances and makes all these names and brands old news.

It was interesting to read the term "digital culture" as Nakamura called it's overuse cliche, even though I never heard of the term before. He says we tend to think of culture as a rich, varied, layered, anchored in specific and possessing depth, yet this is mistaken. He says, if African Americans are underrepresented as web users, they are even more underrepresented as web builders. Then he cites blackplanet.com. I looked it up. In my opinion, it looks like crap. It is very basic. Very social. Nothing that screams hey this is for African Americans.

In my honest opinion, I really dont see too much of racial profiling on the internet or maybe I am just already used to it. I wouldn't be surprised if technology has progressed to already use algorithms to profile me based upon my first and last name alone. As long as it doesnt become intrusive like it was back in the days of Excite, then I don't mind. For me, it helps with relative ads and videos and things I might like, so I kind of like it.

The other reading was more awesome talking about design. Most UI/UX agree that graphics should be kept in check or they take over the entire application. Attracting attention by having a pretty front end is important because it makes user want to use the product. Keeping them distraction-free will allow them to reach a state of flow. They are focused on the task at hand. They article talks about the balance between making it look beautiful and interesting and actually working to accomplish the task. If you have something to do, you dont want to be looking at pictures or extra links. The reading says that their is a fine line between helpful and harmful eye candy.