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(April 11, 2003)
1.+++page 1
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2.1++page 6
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2.3++page 9
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(May 15, 2003)
++on page 1
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--What makes you read this essay? I ask this question especially of those of you who are not reading it just because Yale School of Art Graphic Design Department has asked you to do so. You are my real readers.
--I'd like to imagine this book ends up in the hands of a real reader like you; I'd like to imagine this is "an asynchronous dialogue" between you and me (Laurel 196). It's fun to think about how different the world behind you is from the one behind me. Otherwise, this is a so-called essay "submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts," which, I think, reduces the joy of writing and reading for both of us.
1. Interface
The word "interface" may remind you of a computer screen. Yes, that is a kind of interface--a graphical user interface. It's the interface that I am facing right now as I write. In this case, interface means "the meeting point between the human and the computer" (Wurster 15). The function of the interface is "to allow interaction: to set up a means of communication between the machine and its user" (Wurster 15). So the surface of the keyboard is also a typical machine interface, or, a part of a human-to-computer interface.
Nevertheless this essay is mostly not about the human-to-machine interface: I'd like to go beyond that to explore the idea of interface in a broader sense--the meeting point between the human and anything.
--What's the point of twisting the meaning of "interface"?
In the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, "interface" means "a situation, way or area in which two things or groups can come together and have an effect on each other, or a connection between two electronic devices such as a computer and a printer" ("Interface"). While the second half of this definition describes machine-to-machine interface, the first half perfectly explains the theme of this essay.
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