Technology and Human Interaction

With the continuing emergence of multimedia communication, speculation has increased about the future of human interaction and the ways in which technology will influence that interaction. There are those who view the role of ever changing technologies as a positive force in the continuing evolution of the information age-a profound influence leading to the betterment of humankind.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Landow represent two voices welcoming change. They see the electronic revolution as a short cycle in a much longer process. Bolter believes we are living in the late age of print. In the new information age, print will not determine the boundaries of the way in which we organize and present knowledge. He sees the information age as a shift literacy from print to electronic. Landom believes by combining text, graphics, animation, and sound that the world of digital texts will enable literacy to reach more people than print. The computer will be the technology that will support literacy in the new millennium.