I found EIM to be redundant. In my opinion, David Weinberger gets his point across much better while speaking than as an author. I too, feel that I can get my point across much better by speaking than writing it down. When someone is trying to persuade, confirm or make a point in writing, sometimes the information becomes redundant. I felt there were way to many examples to show the different orders. Is it important to figure out how we got here or is it more important that we are here and how to best utilize the tool. David Weinberger used many examples of the first, second and third order in his book. He came across much more clearer and energetic in his YouTube video. Needless to say, I struggled to get this book read. It was not a book that I could put down and come back to. I found myself reading paragraphs over and over again before I could move on. Thank goodness for Web 2.0. I truly have an appreciation for the expedited information I attain from it. I could have accomplished so much more in my life if I could have understood Weinberger's point sooner. I finally just took hours reading back-to-back to really comprehend and read between the lines the point of this book. In the end, I got it! I found an article in my CNN RSS feed that referred to "The Shallows, by Carr". In the article, I was able to make a connection to EIM. The article from my feed is titled, "Mind Control: Is the Internet changing the way we think?" In EIM "The gap between how we access information and how the computer accesses it is at the heart of the revolution in knowledge" (p.99). Although that statement refers to Wikipedia, the correlation between the two remains at the heart of how our brains think about retrieving information in accordance of how it is now delivered via the Web 2.0. and in the third order. In my opinion it is the power of the new digital disorder. It starts with thinking about a subject then input what knowledge we have on the subject and "bam" there is the information you were looking for on the web 2.0. A true statement found in EIM was "the Internet makes knowledge as instantly available as a calculator's "equals" button" (p. 215). That erases the whole first and second order concept. We cannot walk into a library and retrieve information nor a book that fast. It takes time and dedication to enable the first and second orders that Weinberger was talking about. The third order makes life more efficient and allows our brains to move onto the next subject that we want to inquire about sooner than later. In this world of digital disorder I'm sure our brains are still adapting. I still like the first order of placing things where I feel they should go. I chuckled to myself when I watched the video and read Weinberger's book in reference to the silverware drawer. I have an organized drawer full of silverware and right beside it you will find the messy miscellaneous drawer. Somehow with my OCD with neatness, I feel good about that messy drawer and what's in it and when I need to retrieve something out of it. I waste a lot more time in the real world when things don't have their place, but somehow that particular drawer works for me. The third order works for me as well. When shopping on-line, if you were to inquire about jeans, you would get numerous stores and styles put right in front of you in a blink of an eye. When referring to "paper" (the first and second order) the catalog's sent to me through the mail limits me to one brand and just a few styles and colors too. In addition, it takes so much more time to go through multiple catalogs to find what you are initially looking for. I am constantly referring back to EIM to really link all of the information together. Again, I get it, I just feel there was a lot of examples and information that didn't allow the reader to get to the point sooner. Isn't that the point of all this information about EIM. Nicolas Carr would have struggled with the 233 pages. I'm sure he could have clicked a few buttons on the Web 2.0 and had the same information in an instant!
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-16/tech/internet.brain.carr_1_climate-change-internet-digital-technologies?_s=PM:TECH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43DZEy_J694
2 comments:
I also believe that David Weinberger is a much better speaker than he is author. I found EIM extremely hard to read and understand. I too had to keep reading pages over and over again just to some what understand what he was saying. I could listen to him speak all day long, but to read is book was difficult for me.
I read the book before seeing him speak. I felt that the book read exactly like a lecture. It seemed to be strung together in a random fashion, as if a speaker were rambling. Our teacher pointed out that it was possibly intentional to relate the random nature of digital metadata.It will be interesting to read something written by him on a different topic to see if it were intentional or an affect of a cumbersome writing style. It is definately not something i would have chosen to read.
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