Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Needless to say, many eras of industrial development have provided us with a
menagerie of tools far more exotic than the typewriter, biro or can-opener. We will
focus on one specific example, albeit the most general-purpose example that we can
currently imagine: the digital computer.
7.1.2 The Computer as Meta-tool
The traditional conception of a tool is an implement which provides us with me-
chanical means to carry out some task that exceeds our natural capabilities; consider
unscrewing a nut, or levering open a crate.
Epistemic
tools, such as the abacus, can
perform the same role in the domain of cognition (Norman
1991
, Magnusson
2009
).
The information age has heralded a qualitatively new kind of cognitive extension,
in the form of digital computing devices. Equipped with a programmable computer,
and given an appropriate physical interface, we can produce a wide array of epis-
temic tools. The computer, therefore, is a meta-tool, a platform upon which we can
build and use new forms of cognitive scaffolding.
The tools that we construct upon this platform do not themselves have to be
static and single-purpose. Their functionality can adapt to new contexts—even those
which have not been anticipated ahead of time. Software components can be mod-
ularised and aggregated, resulting in complex assemblages which incorporate the
features of multiple sub-tools.
Moreover, we can confer upon our computational tools a degree of unpredictabil-
ity—a most useful property when seeking to catalyse innovation and one less com-
mon in mechanical tools. With digital pseudo-random number generators, we can
harness the power of chance processes, deploying them in targeted contexts to stim-
ulate and provoke by providing new options and uncertainty.
With more sophisticated software, applications can respond with extended, non-
linear outputs, opening up vistas of possibility in comparison to the predictable one-
to-one response of a traditional tool. Sufficiently complex computational systems
can operate with autonomy, produce novelty, and make assessments about fitness to
purpose, all characteristics associated with creativity (Boden
2004
).
Throughout this chapter we will assume that our agents are “black boxes” (Latour
1994
), closed to functional modification and analysis; for all intents and purposes
these programmed devices, though capable of semi-autonomous action, can be con-
sidered as a tool.
7.1.3 Digital Partners in Creative Practice
Looking towards the sphere of modern musicianship, we have seen technology
emerge at countless new loci, bringing about new functional relationships and
modes of engagement (Brown
2000
). Almost all of the disparate tasks involved in
