Now that I'm revising for interactive media, one thing sprung to mind. Never mind that I just watched an episode of South Park about World of Warcraft ^^. The thing is, interactivity has been around for centuries. It's just that interactivity with new media has only been conceived not so long ago.
Before the digital age, technology was largely mechanical - remote controlled cars, aeroplanes, ships that can last longer than the Titanic.
Then thinkers like Alan Turing, Norbert Wiener and Douglas Engelbart came up with concepts like augmenting human intellect and using technology to become human's secretaries.
The fascinating development in interactivity for new media is the conception of cybernetics, the science of bridging the gap between machines and humans so that they can communicate. Computers to understand the thoughts of humans and humans to understand the language of computers.
Useless fact of the day: ELIZA is a program developed in 1966. It emulates psychotherapists' sessions, and is an early example of user to system interaction. It can keep you entertained for a good half hour, acting as a dummy to bounce your thoughts off. Try it!
