4 Replies to “Job Interviews, 1959 (Wild)”

  1. It was a good idea to start with the past before going straight into your presentation. It gave me a great understanding of where the technology stood in the 1950’s. I also, liked how you went back to your original picture a couple times so you could pull together all your ideas in a sort of summary. It brought the presentation together. Furthermore, comparing the image to what we currently have now with skype was a great way to conclude the slidecast. I didn’t realize just how influential both the TV and the telephone were. I was unaware that the telephone had a direct correlation to people living further away from their workplace. Lastly, I didn’t know that most TV programs were live in the 1950’s. The one critique I have with the slidecast is the assumption that the women in the original image were only there for an aesthetic purpose. I do agree that there was an incredible gender gap during this time that you displayed through many different pictures, but some women during this time did real work and it is not out of the question that they were being interviewed or even possibly doing some of the interviewing. All in all I thought you did a great job and it was incredibly informative.

  2. This was a really interesting topic choice that I hadn’t thought of as a possible case study. You did an excellent job of taking the viewer through the history and development of the different components that went into the prediction of electronic job interviews. Examining the telegraph and presenting its ability to connect those around the world was a great historical explanation for the public’s desire for other forms of long distance interactions. You also did well at explaining current innovations such as skype that mirrored the predictions from the 1950s. The incorporation of cultural norms during this time was another component that helped me gain a better understanding for the image. One suggestion that I would make is to tell us about the format of interviews during this time period to have a better understanding of its progression to this digital new version. However, that might be difficult to find. Overall it was a very informative video that provided the viewer with a greater understanding of the cultural and technological developments that made this prediction possible.

  3. In your slidecast assessing how accurate the “Closer Than We Think” cartoon strip was in predicting the future of job hunting, you did a great job of analyzing it from many different standpoints. Technologically, I like how you described the impact of multiple advancements in chronological order, dating all the way back to the telegraph in the 1830s, then touching upon later technologies such as the telephone and the television. You also did a good job of analyzing the cartoon from social and cultural perspective, pointing out that although the creator of the cartoon was mostly correct in terms of the technological advancements that we will see in the future, he was not as accurate in terms of social issues such as gender roles and race. This aligns with the discussions we have had in class about the shortcomings of futuristic predictions in terms of social and cultural change. I like how you made the connection to our current widespread use of skype for interviews, and how it is now possible for people to interview for jobs from all over the world. This further drives your point home that the cartoon was accurate in terms of what we would be technologically capable of, but was not as on-point in terms of where we would be culturally. This helps illustrate how far we have come as a society in terms of social dynamics. This was a very interesting slidecast!

  4. I thought this was a really well done slidecast. At first I was a little unsure about going so far back (almost 100 years) to talk about the technology that led to this point, but after watching the whole thing I agree that it was necessary and made for a really thorough explanation. I also thought pointing out that all the technological aspects of this hypothetical job interview existed when this cartoon was made, and simply that they hadn’t been used in this way yet was an excellent observation and one that was very much in line with our class theme of understanding technology’s uses, not just its capabilities. Furthermore, I really appreciated how many photos of 1950s ads Bailey used to illustrate the gender dynamics of the time–they were very well-placed and added a lot.

    The only “criticism” I can think to give is that it may have been worthwhile to talk about the “big business” or corporate culture of the 1950s (post-war Economic boom) when you’re discussing a job interview. But that’s pretty minor and overall I thought this was really well done.

  5. Bailey, you did a fantastic job in your project. I liked how much history you gave about the history of the telephone. I did not know that there were already transcontinental telegraph lines by 1861, that’s quite impressive. It is cool that you went that far back in history. Also, the fact that there were already 2.2 million phones by 1905, is another mind blowing fact. Talking about the television was smart, as the photo you present not only uses telephone technology but tv technology as well. Next, I thought you did well presenting the entire presentation chronologically. This can be difficult to do, but I believe you did it in the best way possible. Also, pointing out the gender roles in the photo was a great touch. It is an important part of our history, and I am glad that you decided to talk about it. My only critique is that I would have liked to see you talk more about information in the way we speak to each other through video today. You could have talked about Skype or Facetime, as they are almost direct portrayals of what your picture is predicting. Overall though, you did great and it was a pleasure to watch.

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