The first session of Digital Information Technologies and Architectures (more affectionately known to you and I as DITA) was an introduction to computing. More specifically, we looked at the basic building blocks of how information is stored as data, discussing such things as what a bit actually is (it's a "binary digit" by the way - 0 or 1) and how these build up into bytes, then kilobytes, then megabytes, and so on. We then went on to look at some different formats, and the importance of using the right program to open these formats - particularly in the case of proprietary formats, such as Microsoft Word files.
In the lab we played around with some of these different formats. We saved text in ASCII (a system for encoding alphanumeric characters as seven-digit binary sequences), then saved that same text into a proprietary format (Word), and then saw what happens when you view a Word document in ASCII using Notepad - you get a whole mass of gobbledygook. This is because Word had added all sorts of proprietary info that could only be interpreted by Word, so the file couldn't be viewed as what we'd consider to be any sort of meaningful text by just using the ASCII code. (This touches on some interesting implications regarding the business side of proprietary formats, such as Microsoft's market dominance, and the current tension between Apple and Adobe over Flash.)
We also saved a document in HTML, viewed a document marked-up in HTML, created an image file, and then linked to that image file in a document. (Very useful to know - if the image file is changed, the image in the document changes too.)
I found it interesting to examine the actual "building blocks" of data, and how these blocks are used to store information in different formats. As a user, I've never really given much thought to how data is built - I've only ever been interested in searching for and accessing that information. Yet when one is searching for information, it's worthwhile knowing how that information is stored - to take a look at the engine every so often, if you will, instead of just driving down the highway.
Something that I'm personally interested in is what happens when file formats and technology become obsolete or are no longer supported, and what this means for society. How can we access information on these "lost"/"historical" file formats that are not supported by new technologies? While we are creating ever more information, swimming (or perhaps drowning?) in an ever-expanding sea of data, how much information are we also losing?
