Perception and interpretation of internet information: accessibility, validity and trust
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960680000277 |
| Pages | 7-16 |
| Published date | 01 February 2006 |
| Date | 01 February 2006 |
| Author | Don G Bouwhuis |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Perception and interpretation of internet
information: accessibility, validity and trust
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND
HUMAN LIFE
Though technological development has been a char-
acteristic of human civilization for many centuries,
it was the Industrial Revolution that from 1760 sig-
nificantly changed the life style and, with it, the
behaviour of man. Charles Dickens described some
of the impact in 1841 in ‘The old curiosity shop’ in
which he lets little Nell and her grandfather wander
through the English countryside. Smoking chim-
neys and iron foundries have sprung up everywhere,
with hearts of roaring fires, fed by a new race of
people, the factory workers. Workers they talk to
are fascinated by the power of fire that ultimately
provides the force to harness nature on an unprece-
dented scale. William Blake even spoke of the ‘dark
satanic mills’, suggesting evil powers that would
take over traditional civilization. Apparently, the
stability and innocence of traditional life was lost
forever. Industrialization, however, evolved at an
increasingly more rapid pace ever since, but it is
important to realize that it focused on physical
products, products that could be manufactured, be
touched, be used or be exchanged. About 200 years
after the Industrial Revolution a new era started
with the advent of general-purpose computers.
They were predominantly directed at difficult or
intractable problems in the physical domain, but
produced and operated upon immaterial objects;
Info, Comm & Ethics in Society (2006) 1: 7-16
© 2006 Troubador Publishing Ltd.
Don G Bouwhuis
Human-Technology Interaction, Technische Universiteit, Eindhoven TU/e 5600 MB,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Email: d.g.bouwhuis@tue.nl
The way in which humans deal with physical objects has been formed by extensive interaction and, according to the
theory of embodied cognition, has led to conceptualization and interpretation that is grounded in physical interaction
of the body with elements in the environment. Digital objects are immaterial and cannot show similar external proper-
ties as physical objects, and further, they are representational in nature. Specific problems related to their immaterial
nature are those of permanence, location, and ownership. In this paper the differences between material and immate-
rial objects are analyzed with respect to human interaction. Three issues are highlighted: the lack of transparency of dig-
ital document handling, security of digital information and accessibility of digital information. It is concluded that the
importance of the distinction between direct physical objects and immaterial objects has been vastly underestimated,
at the cost of usability, trust and security.
Keywords: accessibility, trust, usability, human perception, embodied cognition
VOL 4 NO 1 JANUARY 2006 7
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