Dear list;
Some time ago there was a minor flurry of interest on the concept of "the user." I wonder if
anyone can direct me to one of two things:
1) an etymology of the term, explaining the context within which this came to be an accepted
term, or
2) an early historical text employing this term.
I might add that I have been attempting to better understand this concept, which appears to
be employed in reference to a sort of archetypal human figure with physical and cognitive
characteristics that fall within a set of (sometimes tacit) statistical norms. More specifically, I
am interested in the use of the term in the context of what would most probably have been
called 'man-machine' systems at the time, if my suspicions are correct and the term dates
back to the late 1940s.
Is this a concept with a known and citable historical origin? Is there a text of particular
historical significance that introduces this concept? Am I wrong, and should I be looking to
the ancient Greeks, or the Romans, Arabs, or Japanese? Were there users at the pyramids, or
the aqueducts, or henges for that matter, or is it a post-cybernetic invention?
Thank you for your help, and happy holidays to one and all. 9 days to the shortest one of all
(here in the icy North, that is)!
Hans Samuelson
Montréal
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