Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University has created a interesting video exploring the changes in the way we find, store, create, critique, and share information.
The video was created as a conversation starter, and Michael notes, works especially well when brainstorming with people about the near future and the skills needed in order to harness, evaluate, and create information effectively:
In the last 18 months things have got simpler – from creating maps to modelling the city, tools are emerging that are making the task easier. This is not to say that the problem is any less complex, it is just that software is reaching out to the masses and with it comes ease of use.
Large software companies with their bloated applications are increasingly being caught out by small, task specific applications, that simply get things done. Our Google Map Creator, Image Cutter and PhotoOverlay Creator for example are mainly ‘Open and Save’ applications.
Simple services or ‘Open and Save’ applications are typical of Web 2.0. Some professionals and educators may bulk at the ability to create maps or digital cities with a few clicks of the mouse but we tend to think its a good thing…