BARTALK 15-11-2019 by Karina Zavidova [email protected] www.zavidova.com : relationships

1. Software: What is it?  Computer software, or simply software, is a collection of data or computer instructions that tell the computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work. … and software require each other and neither can be realistically used on its own. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software

the instructions that control what a computer does; computer programs https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/software

Software: opposite to hardware, requires hardware to work. A set of instructions. ‘Set of instructions’ - why do I like this definition so much?

Types of software: proprietary, open source,

Proprietary (closed-source) software: Adobe, Office, Mac OS etc. The source is closed, it is copyrighted and intellectual property remains the property of the owner and it is used by users under terms and conditions.

Open source software: What is “Open Source” software? Generally, Open Source software is software that can be freely accessed, used, changed, and shared (in modified or unmodified form) by anyone. Open source software is made by many people, and distributed under licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition. https://opensource.org/faq#osd Can Open Source software be used for commercial purposes? Absolutely. All Open Source software can be used for commercial purpose; the Open Source Definition guarantees this. You can even sell Open Source software. However, note that commercial is not the same as proprietary. If you receive software under an Open Source license, you can always use that software for commercial purposes, but that doesn’t always mean you can place further restrictions on people who receive the software from you. In particular, copyleft- style Open Source licenses require that, in at least some cases, when you distribute the software, you must do so under the same license you received it under. https://opensource.org/faq#osd

Is Open Source and Free Software the same thing? No. As I understand, the difference is quite ideological, where Open Source focuses on being open with a variety of terms and conditions and licensing models and Free Software focuses on freedom, giving it to you for free.

1. Software + me = a relationship

1. Who am I in this relationship?

- an employee who gets the software with the job, working in a team - an individual - a freelancer - a hobbyist (‘software for stupid people’) —> A USER What does the software gets out of you? 2. Production model  All software has a certain production model behind it The future of software <—> developing modern production models What are the production models behind the software I use daily? For example... InDesign – publishing house or a design studio Text Processors – Writer/Journalist/Editor

How does the software handle the changes in the type of users and the ways of working?

3. Small detour: WARE Vaporware (software which is announced but never released) Kitchenware

4. How do I access software? App, browser, terminal, plugins, mobile. Purchase vs cloud vs free.

5. Cloud is real

The physical presence of software - Location, country - Visual uniformity (We think it all originates somewhere in California but that’s not exactly right)

Cases to look up:

Adobe Venezuela Livejournal Russia https://mashable.com/2017/04/10/livejournal-russian- law/?europe=true Github Iran https://thenextweb.com/dd/2019/10/24/the-iranian-developer-deadlock- stuck-between-censorship-and-us-sanctions/

1. Software + other software = relationships(software = people)

Tinder vs Bumble lawsuit duel ‘The Tinder-Bumble Feud: Dating Apps Fight Over Who Owns The Swipe’ https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/660006488/the-tinder-bumble-feud-dating-apps-fight- over-who-owns-the-swipe?t=1573748585230

New ideas of patents for software (excerpts from the article):

Then, four years ago, the Supreme Court set new guidance for patenting software with a case called Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. The ruling, called the Alice decision, held that if you take an abstract idea and just propose using a computer or the Internet to make it happen, it’s still an abstract idea — and still not patentable.

So meal-planning on the Internet: No longer patentable. But what about Tinder’s patent?

Bumble argues the patent protects the idea of “matchmaking on the Internet,” and should be thrown out. Tinder, meanwhile, argues that marrying the swipe motion with a matchmaking system is a true invention, a concrete improvement to dating app interfaces.

Also think of: Components (what happens when a work uses too much plugins?) Versions Who decides what is digital interaction?

Unicode Consortium. (No they don’t decide e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, but I am going to use them as an example)

‘Unicode Consortium, a non-profit that regulates the coding standards for written computer text that includes emojis’ (definition taken from the Taco Bell petition)

Lobbying of emoji: Taco by Taco Bell (see the petition if curious) https://www.change. org/p/unicode-consortium-the-taco-emoji-needs-to-happen-aeb4ebc7-a323-441d- 90b9-20b90c83a8c6 Also see Durex lobbying for condom emoji

How Are New Emoji Selected? The Unicode Emoji Subcommittee regularly reviews proposals for new emoji. The selection criteria are fully defined here, but in essence they boil down to this: a) will the image work at the small size at which emoji are commonly used, b) does the emoji add to what can be said using emoji or can the idea be expressed using existing emoji, c) is there substantial evidence that a large number of people will likely use this new emoji. https://home.unicode.org/emoji/

Guidelines for submitting an emoji: http://unicode.org/emoji/proposals.html#selection_ factors

1. The FUTURE ???  What does the future look like?

What shifts are you noticing in the way you use software in your work and in your personal life?

Few things I think about in connection to ‘The Future’

- Why am I even bothering with software…? Learning to code widely advertised as a promise of a bright future. Bootcamps. Replacing whatever I do with a ‘normal job’. - Voice interfaces: Training, replicating voices, stealing voices etc. - Software and hardware: Everything is a subscription service (Peloton example) - Memoji (platform separation) – iOs and Android producing different visual culture. - Use of face filters, what is behind it? Giving your face to the machine all over again. - No clue what the future has in stock because quite a lot of things we use today started as military projects – I won’t see it until it’s there. What is innovation anyway? (Check AI winter)

Thank you for reading! Thank you for listening!