I was reading about Sam Ruby’s experience as an OS X switcher and he mentions the phrase uncanny valley which is an interesting theory on the emotive response of humans to technology (robotics actually) based on how similar the tech is to humanity.
Now I’m guessing our connections to tech are highly subjective and I might not be as nerdy as Sam and therefore less in tune with my virtual desktop, but I’d posit we’re a hell of a long ways from the uncanny valley. The iPhone is probably the most intuitive and enjoyable device I’ve ever used and its not too far up the food chain from an industrial robot. Regardless, it’s an interesting subject to reflect on as a both a tech contributor and consumer.
What’s your gut reaction to your computer, phone, television and the software applications that run on them?
2 Comments
It was an analogy.
On the picture above, substitute “healthy person” with Linux, and “human likeness” with Windows, and CYGWIN ends up right about where “prosthetic hand” would be on the picture.
Killer analogy–thanks for connecting the dots.