The majority of all artifacts in use today are either the result
of the design revolution at the beginning of the 20th century,
or of efforts to redesign everyday objects for use in new
contexts of practical experiences. From the telephone to the
television set, from the automobile to the airplane and
helicopter, from the lead pencil to the fountain pen and
disposable ball-point pen, from the typewriter to the word
processor, from cash registers to laser readers, from stoves to
microwave ovens-the list can go on and on-a new world has been
designed and manufactured. The next world is already knocking at
the door with robots, voice commanded machines, and even
interconnected intelligent systems that we might use, or that
might use us, in some form. The steam and pneumatic engines
fired by coal, oil, or gas are being replaced by highly
efficient, compact, electric or magneto-electric engines
integrated in the machines they drive, controlled by
sophisticated electronic devices.
There is almost nothing stemming from the age that made literacy
necessary that will not be replaced by higher efficiency
alternatives, by structurally different means. What about the
technology of literacy? One can only repeat what once was a good
advertisement line: "The typewriter is to the pen what the sewing
machine (Remember the machine driven by foot power?) is to the
needle." Remington produced the beautiful Sholes and Glidden
typewriter in the 1870's. It was difficult to decide whether the
ornate object, displaying hand-stenciled polychrome flowers,
belonged in the office or in a Victorian study. Now it is a
museum piece. Compare it to the word processor of today. Its
casing might survive the renewal cycle of two to three years
that hardware goes through. The chip's processing abilities will
double every eighteen months, in accordance with Moore's Law.
The software, the heart and mind of the machine, is improved
almost continuously. Now it provides for checking spelling,
contains dictionaries, checks syntax and suggests stylistic
changes. Soon it will take dictation. Then it will probably
disappear; first, because the computer can reside on the network
and be used as needed, and second, the written message will no
longer be appropriate in the new context. Those who question
this rather pedestrian prediction might want to ask themselves
some other questions: Where is the ornamental ink stand, the
beautiful designs by Fabergé and Tiffany? Where are the fountain
pens, the Gestetner machines? Carbon paper? Are they replaced by
miniature tape recorders or pocket computers, by integrated
miniature machines that themselves integrate the wireless
telephone? Are they replaced by the computer, the Internet
browser, and digital television? Edward Bulwer-Lytton gave us
the slogan "The pen is mightier than the sword." Today, the
function of each is different from what it was when he referred
to them. They became collectibles. The disposable pen is
symptomatic of a civilization that discards not only the pen,
but also writing.
The breakaway of design occurs first of all at structural levels.
It is one thing to write a letter, manuscript, or business plan
with a pencil, quite another to do the same on a typewriter, and
even more different to use a word processor for these purposes,
or to rely on the Internet. The cognitive implications of the
experience-what kinds of processes take place in the mind-cause
the output to be different in each case. No medium is passive.
In each medium, previous experiences and patterns of interaction
are accumulated. The more interaction there is to a process, and
sometimes to a collaborative effort, the more the condition of
writing itself changes. We can think of messages addressed to
many people at once. Think of the Mullah chanting evening
prayers at the top of a minaret; or of the priest addressing a
congregation; of the president of a nation using the powerful
means of television, or of a spammer on the Internet,
distributing messages to millions of e-mail addresses. Each
communication is framed in a context constituting its parameters
of pre-understanding. To the majority, spam means no more than
chopped meat in a can. Even today, over 50% of the world's
people have never used a telephone. And with some 50 million
people on the Internet, Netizenship is more vision than reality.
Design as a semiotic integrative practical experience is a matter
of both communication and context. The possibility to customize
a message so that it is addressed not to an anonymous group (the
believers gathered for the occasion, or members of society eager
to learn about political decisions affecting their lives), but to
each individual, reflecting concern for each one's individual
condition and respect for his or her contribution in a system of
distributed tasks, was opened by design. The semiosis of group
and mass communication is very different from the semiosis of
pointcasting. Technologically, everything is available for this
individualized communication. However, it does not occur because
of the implicit literate expectation in the functioning of
church, state, education, commerce and other institutions. Design
experiences submit the centrality of the writer to reassessment.
One relates to the literate model of one-to-many communication.
This model is based on the assumption of hierarchy, within a
context of sequential interaction (the word is uttered, the
listener understands it, reacts, etc.). In the industrial
pragmatic framework, this was an efficient model. Perfected
through the experience of television, it reached globality. But
scale is not only sheer numbers. More important are
interactions, intensities, the efficient matching of each
individual's needs and expectations. Thus, efficiency no longer
means how many individuals are at the receiving end of the
communication channel, but how many channels are necessary to
effectively reach everyone. A different design can change the
structure of communication and introduce participatory elements.
For those still captive to literacy, the alternative is the
ubiquitous word-processed letter matched to a list in a
database. For those able to re-think and reformulate their goals,
effectiveness means transcending the literate structure.
The challenge begins at knowing the language of the individuals,
mapping their characteristics (cognitive, emotional, physical),
and addressing them specifically. The result of this effort is
represented by individualized messages, addressing in parallel
people who are concerned about similar issues (environment,
education, the role of the family). Moreover, it is possible to
have many people write together, or to combine one person's text
with someone else's image, with animation, spoken words, or
music. In the design effort that takes the lead here,
hierarchies are abolished, and new interactions among people are
stimulated. The design that leads to such patterns of human
experiences must free itself from the constraints of
sequentiality. Such design can no longer be subject to the
duality of good or bad, as frequently related to form (in
particular, typography, layout, coherence). Rather, it covers a
continuum between less appropriate to very well adapted to the
scope of the activity. No longer cast in metal, wood, or stone,
but left in a soft condition (as software or as a variable,
self-adaptive set of rules), the design can improve, change, and
reach its optimum through many contributions from those who
effectively constitute their identity interacting with it. The
user can effectively finish the design by choosing identifiers
and modifying, within given limits, the shape, color, texture,
feel, and even function of the artifact.
There is also a deeper level of knowing the language of the
individuals addressed. At this level, to know the language means
to know the experience. Henceforth, the new design no longer
takes place at a syntactic or a semantic level, but is
pragmatically driven. To reach every individual means to
constitute a context for a significant practical experience:
learning, participation in political decisions, making art, and
many others. But let us be realistic as we experience the urge to
convey a sense of optimism: the common practical experience
involves partaking in the distribution of the wealth and
prosperity generated in this extremely efficient pragmatic
framework. As discouraging as this might sound, in the last
analysis, consumption, extremely individualized, constitutes the
most engaging opportunity for efficient pointcasting. The
questions entertained today by visionaries, innovators, and
venture capitalists placing their bets on the Internet might not
always make this conclusion clear.