Leah Johnson: "Cut, Copy, and Paste" & "Counting Electric Sheep"

“Cut, Copy, and Paste” is an interesting read that relates a class I took last semester, Media Ecology. This article examines a basic editing function that we take for granted everyday in a more analytical way. This article gives us a glimpse of history and how basic cutting tools can be translated into a technique that enable us to do things faster and efficiently. When one thinks of cutting, copying and pasting, one would usually translate that to writing. However, Dr. Strate shows that these techniques can be translated into so much more, such as manufacturing, production, recycling, etc.

“Counting Electric Sheep: Understanding Information in the Context of Media Ecology” was a refresher of information along with a few new insights. I was able to understand more thoroughly because of the previous Media Ecology course. Most of the materials covered in this article I have learned through the other course, but I did find the introduction of information technology interesting. Dr. Strate mentioned Information environments and Media environments being interchangeable, which makes a lot of sense, being that the media is a source of information. The difference, I believe, would be the restriction of information being conveyed through Media environments, opposed to Information environments being free to a variety of information. In addition, it was also mentioned that information ecology has made an appearance, which I would be thoroughly interested to learn about and compare or contrast differences and similarities to Media Ecology.

Both of these articles push you to think of simplistic issues in a more critical way. Although, I was pretty familiar with the Counting Electric Sheep’s content, I still found many interesting facets of the article. “Cut, Copy, and Paste” introduced a new outlook on an editing feature I use so very often. Media Ecology has its way of opening your mind to many unfamiliar theories, and, in turn translating those theories into understanding new media and where it has come from.