Nature of Computer Systems

The motivation for the discipline [⇒ Computer Semiotics] comes from the nature of computer systems: although in many respects computer systems can be conceived as tools in analogy with typewriters, pencils, brushes and filing cabinets, they differ from these tools by not primarily existing or being used as physical objects, but as signs. The pencil of the drawing program is no real pencil that can be used to chew on, it is merely stands for a pencil, represented by a collection of pixels on the screen. Computer systems resemble other media by primarily acting as carriers of meaning [⇒ [Meaning (Sinn)]. >> meaning

Even if computer systems basically are symbolic tools, this symbolic nature has only attracted serious attention in recent years.

The reason for this is threefold: from being a tool only for specialists, computers have now been integrated into many occupations, and therefore the demands for interpretability have risen. The mode of operation and the meaning of the data must be easy to grasp for the secretary or the manager whose time should not be spent deciphering cryptic codes but writing agendas or making decisions. A good interface has become a necessary prerequisite for a good system.

The second reason is that computers are beginning to be used as media with functions similar to the textbook (educational systems, on-line manuals), the letter (e-mail), the newspaper (presentation systems), the telephone (conferencing systems), and the film (games), where the importance of the sign concept and semiotics is well established. In addition, hardware developments like high-resolution color screens, sound, and real-time video, begin to require skills of system developers that compare to the handicraft of professional artists or film-makers.

The third reason is that complex production Processes are more and more being controlled by means of computers. The physical components and processes are no longer accessible to the operator, and this increases the demands to the interface, since the operators often have to rely solely on the computer-based signs when making decisions. >> process operator

P. B. Andersen, A theory of computer semiotics: semiotic approaches to construction and assessment of computer systems, Updated ed, Cambridge series on human-computer interaction 3 (Cambridge ; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 1–2.