Code/Space Week 4

Code/Space 

 

Kitchin and Doges compare the expansion of software to the early invention Steam engine centuries ago. ars, airplanes, factories, trains or space shifts – none of these transportations methods could have been possible if there wasn’t an early breakthrough of steam engines (History and Press, 2012). These inventions didn’t just shape the world back then but it also contributed to the technological evolution that the world is experiencing right now. The same goes to the invention of the printing press, the steel etc. It is hard if not impossible to live an ordinary life without relating to software in any given form. Kitchin and Dodges claim that it is the same way the use of software is shaping the world today (2011, pg 5).

A software, simply being an assemblage of codes and algorithms influences how we live today. Whether we choose to be connected to the internet or not, in the Western world for example, it is impossible not to relate to it. Major companies have adjusted their services and nowadays many of them require customers to use computers or some other technology devices. Kitchin and Dodges explain how when it comes to travelling for example, the combined coded between the billing, ticketing, the check-in, baggage routing etc. work together to produce a coded assemblage that defines and produces airport and passengers air travel (2011, pg 7).

The programmable city blog explores a subject regarding the involvement of individuals in regards to decisions that are made by leaders concerning the digitalisation of their cities. They claim that “technology has the power to help people live in communities that are more responsive to their needs and that can actually improve their lives (The Programmable City, 2016). However, they also state that they way most people will live in next 15 years or so will depend on some of the decision that will be made by their leaders (The Programmable City, 2017). In many cases, important decision involving the public have been taken without consulting them. Usually it is after the new rules are created that the decision-makers inform the public. Kitchin and Doges (2011) claims that “  these coded processed are invisible, however they are revealed to individuals through the fields of official form letters, statements etc” (pg 7).

 

References

History, 1. and Press, T. (2012). 11 Innovations That Changed History – History Lists. [online] HISTORY.com. Available at: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/11-innovations-that-changed-history [Accessed 27 Feb. 2017].

Kitchin, R. & Dodge, M., 2011. Code/space software and everyday life, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press

The Programmable City, (2017). How to ensure smart cities benefit everyone. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-to-ensure-smart-cities-benefit-everyone-65447 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2017].

 

 

 

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