Invention and Design 1/28/97

Assignment-- find out who advocated falsification as the procedure by which science advances.

• Popper

Criteria for demarcation of science from non-science:

• Can the experiment be falsified?
• Key: how theories are tested, not how they are discovered.
• No theory lasts forever. Eventually all are falsified.

Assignment #2-- what did Faraday do with his motor?

• Sent the motor to other scientists so that they might integrate it into their own experiences.
• Would an inventor do this?-- probably not-- perhaps after it is patented. Faraday only interested in demonstrating/discovering the principles; not concerned with applications.

Assignment #3: Critical technology at that time (1860's -1870's)?

• Reverse salient?-- metaphor taken from battlefield. The "front" of technology advances, but where it is being held back is called the

"reverse salient."

• Multiple Telegraphy! How to send multiple messages over a single

(uninsulated) wire or "channel."

Who was concerned about transmitting the human voice?

• Bell & Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Hubbard. Was concerned about

Western Union's monopoly on the telegraph industry. WU was

interested in backing multiple telegraphy, not voice transmission,

because WU thought multiple telegraphy the reverse salient, not speech

transmission.

Thus, Bell needed to "invent" a market as well as a technology because

it was not obvious that speech transmission was a critical reverse salient.

Discussion of Donald Norman's Things that Make Us Smart, Chs. 1-2.

Percentage of published scientific journals ever read?

• 85 - 99 are never read by anyone.

Norman's background

1972 Human Information Processing-- changed field of psychology by

shifting from behaviorism in the psychology community.

BYTE magazine: What's Wrong with UNIX-- an attack on CS

design of operating systems-- no appreciation for the human user.

Brought about concern in the CS community.

Founded Cognitive Psych dept. at UCSD and went to work for

Apple Computer.

Theme of Norman's book Things that Make Us Smart: For the design of technology, humans put in a subservient role to technology,

a role for which they are not suited.

One of the reasons telephone caught on is because it is a more user-

friendly technology than multiple telegraph, which required "operators."

Examples of technology which you feel you need to adapt to?

• computers-- people spend more time "doing" than thinking.
• automobile--
• World Wide Web-- for this Invention and Design class-- to get any of

the course materials you must go there.

Acceleration of technology-- is it getting faster all the time?

Difference of today's speed vs. yesteryear's?-- classes in elementary

schools in how to deal with technology-- computers.

Apple Macintosh story: Jobs & Wosniak-- credited with inventing PC's with the first Apple Computers.

XEROXparc-- Alan Kay & research group-- decided that everyone would

have his/her own computer in the form of a hand-held version. Criterion:

Could my six-year-old daughter use it. Graphics instead of text; Pointer

instead of keyboard. XEROXparc decided that this was a technology

that was not going anywhere. Jobs adopts these ideas later on. The

human point of view was central to the Macintosh's success.

Similar to Western Union: was offered Bell's patent for $100,000, but

they turned it down because they did not think it was worth the money,

much to their later dismay.

Norman: Technology does not belong in the driver's seat; we do.

Examples of technology that we have pulled back from:

• Strategic Defense Initiative
• Martian Base-- Wehrner von Braun- -predicted Martian base by 1980.
• Nuclear Power Plants-- why are there Nuclear power plants in France

& other countries but not in the U.S.

-- supply of oil?

--Three Mile Island Accident?

--cultural differences

-- are they adaptable for the user? what about the waste disposal?

• There are many psychological and social issues involved.

What makes the difference between technology that movers forward and

technology that does not?

• investments
• risks

Difference between experiential vs. reflective cognition:

Key to discovering this difference: What makes an "expert?"

• person who has much experience & knowledge
• Knowing what knowledge is relevant. Algorithmic responses
• heuristics: methods to solving problems-- not guaranteed to give

solution.

• Norman says 5000 hours minimum to become an expert. Why?

-- need time for "tuning" expertise.

Experiential vs. Reflective learning

• experiential-- you are tuned, so response to problem is immediate

almost real-time; Example from show ER: Carter's

transition to becoming an expert. Also, driving a car.

• reflective-- often done in the process of "restructuring" or re-evaluating

situations in which you applied experiential responses.

Optimal flow: complete absorption in the process of doing something.

- focused on once thing in particular, the rest filtered-out.

- time appears to pass rapidly.

- lack of distractions.

- strong memory of what you were doing.

- feel positive after the experience is done.