Comments on: Information is the product (part 3).

By: sivam

sivam — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:47:37 +0000

Coming to think of it, nature is the inspiration here.
Nature Integrates information into objects – creating the miracle of life. But around us, we see objects as lifeless primarily because they cannot reproduce. But they have information content – in un-reproducible form.

The internet – the other miracle, creates a means to store information about these objects in way that they are reproducible. This is what you are talking about ?

By: blaiq

blaiq — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:11:12 +0000

In biology, the information that makes up a species is contained within its genes and is referred to as the ‘genotype’ and its physical/behavioural expression as ‘the phenotype.’ Our bodies are, in effect, phenotypes carved out by our genes.

So we humans are also products/printouts of ‘information’ that we carry in ourselves (the digital/physical hybrid) and pass along – changing random bits of it as we do so.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:19:32 +0000

Excellent post. Come to think of it, I’m much more likely to toss out a printout than to delete a file. Mind blowing to think of the shift that has already happened and the shift that is to come.

By: adrian

adrian — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:32:16 +0000

Stephanie, really interesting analogy. I agree, dance is a fantastic metaphor for matter over information. Negative space is as communicative as where the body goes – what an inspiring thought.

Thanks!

By: stephanie gerson

stephanie gerson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:17:01 +0000

sounds kinda Socratic: digital as the ideal form, and physical as a temporary one. in the words of our friendly wikipedians, “According to Socrates, physical objects and physical events are “shadows” of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves.”

also reminds me that as a dancer, I prioritize space over stuff. this makes me especially sensitive to stuff I think shouldn’t exist, which I harshly refer to as an “insult to matter.” shoulda just remained as energy. but upon reading your post, perhaps shoulda just remained digital.

“this also implies that the ideal state for many different kinds of products is a digital/physical hybrid.” product can also be hybrid in terms of the trajectory of their lifetime – precipitating out of digital solution (so to speak) and taking physical form temporarily, but living most of their lives in digital form. I can’t think of an example, but hey, your post is exploratory and I liked this idea.

anyways, thanks. I’ve been enjoying this trip ;)

By: David Esrati

David Esrati — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:36:31 +0000

Nicholas Negroponte made the point in his book “Being Digital”- 1996- “bits, not atoms”- in the way to transmit data.
Basically, once you commit your data to atoms- it has just entered the waste stream- no longer up datable, no longer easy to share, search, link to- etc.
Every piece of paper started out with digital data- why do we still insist on screwing it up by printing it and adding all those additional costs for a less robust product?