To me, the word "interactive" brings up images of gimmicky edutainment software in a clearance bin at Best Buy. Software is interactive almost by definition, so branding a software product as such does little more than emphasize that this is not just a VHS tape. That's hardly an impressive statement in 2011. Growing up in the 90's, I didn't need a sticker on the box of Kid Pix or Oregon Trail to tell me that this was how I wanted to spend my afternoon.
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| Ye Olde Kid Pix |
I have fond memories of Kid Pix in particular, because in retrospect, I can see that Kid Pix used fun tools to slyly teach kids how to use a Macintosh. While using the dynamite tool to blow up your images made for endless fun, many of the standard paint program tools were there too. The toolbar looked a lot like the toolbar from "real" paint programs, the menus were standard Mac menus, and even the cursors were the same as those used in paint programs at the time. And this was at a time when the Mac was taking the graphic design and publishing industry by storm. I can honestly say that Kid Pix introduced me to a lot of computer skills and interface conventions for the first time.
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| Recent version of Kid Pix |
Sadly, modern versions of Kid Pix have abandoned the "standard" interface in favor of a more "fun" and "Fisher Price" looking UI. I don't know who's idea it is that making everything look like it's made out of colored plastic is going to somehow increase the educational value of the product, but I can't say I agree. The old Kid Pix looked like a real program, and I didn't have any trouble learning to use it. This, in my opinion, is a change for the worse. When I was 6, I didn't want to play with a Fisher Price hacksaw and brightly colored plastic drill bits, I wanted to use a real drill to destroy real parts of my parent's house! Well, it's the plastic drill bits I think of when I hear the word "interactive." I think of safety scissors, glue sticks, and the kinds of tools kids learn to hate because they're not the "real" tools the adults use.
In class, we recently discussed a trend in the art world that began with the cyberneticists in which artists began to shift the emphasis of their work from static representations to more "interactive" works. In particular, these artists were interested in getting the audience involved with the art.
From a 21st century perspective, many of the early attempts at interactivity have been eclipsed in their novelty so many times that works like CYSP-0 seem downright quaint. Today, pervasively (and I'm cringing as I type the word,) interactive art projects are never more than a few clicks away. Take for example the Arcade Fire's recent "music video" which incorporates imagery of the viewer's childhood home from Google Maps and Street View. Or Chris Milk's 3 Dreams of Black. Or the breathtaking Johnny Cash Project.
I hate using the word "interactive" to describe the Johnny Cash Project. It's just too cheap a word to me.
Yes, this blog was a rant about the word "interactive."
