Part IV. Digital Information

The Pervasive Influence of Code

PHYSICAL AND SEMANTIC MODES SHAPED OUR CONTEXTUAL EXPERIENCE ALL ALONE, up until the last century. All that time, the invariant structural principles of natural and built environments changed very slowly, if at all. It’s a third ingredient—digital information—whose influence has so quickly disrupted how we experience the other two modes. It’s what has made so many user experience–related fields necessary to begin with.

Digital information
Figure IV.1. Digital information

Part IV explains the origins of digital technology, and why it is different from the other modes. It then explores how digital information influences the way we understand the world, the way we make software, and the properties of digital agents and simulated affordances.

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