The basic definition of what a website, according to google, is "a set of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a single person or organization.” But the way Schwulst manages to connect it to the structure of a room, house, boat, cloud, garden, etc. was like an epiphany to me. A website is somewhat like a window into ourselves- whomever designed the site. As house, we decorate it as how we see fit and in that, we showcase something about ourselves. We are the author and writer of our sites, designing and writing the code to the world we are building. I also enjoy how Schwulst mention social media. Instagram, twitter, etc has changed much over the years and often the changes are given lots of backlash eacuse honestly- they are ass changes used to only cater to making more money and not the users. But with our own website that we build- we don’t have to deal with that because WE are the creators. And as mentioned, it doesn’t need to be complete. The anxiety of having perfect feeds on instagram is what drew me away from ever posting because the validation of likes was on my mind. Now, the beauty of an imperfect website adds character and allows breathing room for me to grow my website and myself.
I always thought about it but technology was always thought about as computers, consoles, tv, robots, cars, etc. and never really knives, wheels, ink, medicine, etc. I would say that is the case because for atleast my generation- we grew up in an era where we had so many technological advances within the first ten years of the year 2000. Because of that- we often never really imagine chairs or hammers as technology and or as something “hi tech”. I guess it can be argued because hammers have been around and so have chairs- but hte new innovation of cellphones are so other worldly comparatively so it is recognized as what we define connotationally as “hi tech”. Though I think we do need to exercise the thought of our world and inventions as all forms of technology.
Handmade web referring to web pages made by an individual rather than a software was an interesting take to me. Made from scratch instead of templates. The term "handmade web" is advocated for to encourage an ongoing active engagement with the creation and policies of web pages. Carpenter wants to emphasize the rawness and manual labor that goes into creating a website- to appreciate the effort we do not see at first in a website. The author also highlights the influence of print materials, such as zines and pamphlets, on the creation of handmade web pages and how the relationship between print and digital was more symbiotic in the early days of the web. The article also acknowledges the temporal paradox that occurs when viewing old web pages through modern browsers and how it reveals the progress and evolution of the web. Keep the individuality alive in websites and not let corporations take over.
Knowing the roots of where our technology is coming from really amazed me. The word computer and the object known as a computer originated from people- not technological parts- but living human beings. Which i supposed would make sense- computers are man made so the word originating from women who worked in arithmetic labor didn’t seem to far off once explained. Taeyoon Choi comparing the parts of a computer to a city and art really helped simplify the overcomplicated elements of a computer. Interestingly enough, computers use binary codes which are just 1 and 0. Life is not as simple as 1s and 0s. The similarity and contradictions of a computer to real life is fascinating.