I kind of wish I could just keep taking this class; most days I feel like we ended class discussions with so much more to say. The readings varied in quality for me, but when they worked they inspired me to think about technology in new ways (sometimes I felt like I was being presented with very basic ideas that, for whatever reason, I’d just never thought about before). Google Wave was a innovative technology that I’d never used before, and I remain surprised that more people don’t use it. Of course, given that it’s a service highly dependent on wide societal use for success, I’m not sure it’ll catch on.
Lab reflections:
HTML/website coding – I’m so glad we got to make websites. Between the first lab and the final project, I definitely got to stretch myself coding-wise. I was familiar with html (could fix code) but had never created anything from scratch before. For the final project I got to try a little javascript (some pretty messy jquery), which was… an adventure.
Audio – I can’t say I totally enjoyed this. I guess that, with the inclusion of the video lab, audio just seemed inferior.
Video – I am never using iMovie again. In some ways it was more frustrating than Sophie (I think I had higher expectations). Using Final Cut Pro for the final was a very different experience (in a good way) and made iMovie look, as illustrated in Blake and Kyle’s project, far inferior. I enjoyed the actual filming process, however, despite actors being really difficult.
Sophie – I’m maybe a little masochistic because I loved Sophie. This from the girl who had to deal with 1. the program refusing to save and 2. bringing her desktop to class. I think when the kinks are worked out it’ll be an incredible program. I think it spoke the most to what we were learning about in class in terms of hypertext and a new digital way of thinking.
I enjoyed class with all of you and want to thank everyone for some entertaining and provoking discussions. And, of course, thanks to Prof. Fitzpatrick for facilitating and creating an amazing class and semester.
– Hannah