Digest 11

The continuous and accelerating rate of technological innovation all too often takes our attention away from the human dimensions of these developments in favour of critique or celebration of the technologies themselves. In this issue of DIGEST we focus attention on four aspects of the human and social implications of what our new media do for, and might be doing to and with, us. Dan Schick explores Richard McKeon's rhetorical method's potential contributions to current studies on the means by which we understand and assess how new media content is created, circulated and received. With increasing penetration by new media and smart devices and environments into daily life, we've noted that the boundary between public & private spheres appears ever more blurred and porous. Angie Hsieh reports on research into how the new digital environment may be affecting our experiences and expectations of home. Marcelo Vieta's thoughtful piece points us toward exploring the implications of the relationships between McLuhan's ideas and the American Pragmatist legacy for foundations for human-centered approaches to new media evaluation and criticism. Our interview introduces Patrick Feng, a post- doctoral fellow at the School of Communication. In the conversation Patrick reflected on his personal change in intellectual direction from engineering to research into the social aspects of technology. His discussion sheds light on the political, social, and user implications of standards and standardization. In this issue, Treanna Szelei's Site Watch features Radio Frequency Identification, a technology set to replace the bar code, with major privacy and surveillance implications. Summer is nearly upon us, it promises little respite from the work of the NewMedia Research Group at CPROST. Our colleagues are traveling to conferences, giving papers and preparing new material for the next issue. Reports and new work expected in as the Fall semester unfolds.

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