Response: Reading 1

Data-Ink: Tufte

I really enjoyed seeing Tufte dismantle the typical bar graph. Everyone understands bar graphs, and we usually skim them quickly. They tend to be bulky and slow to read. I agree with earlier comments that say it is pretty intuitive to erase unnecessary parts of a visualization, but Tufte’s analysis of each and every line is much more thorough and precise than I was expecting. The idea of data-ink ratio is a very good one, but I think that he discredits a bit some valuable uses for ink in visualizations.

Database as System: Paul

This article brings up a good point about the challenges of interfacing the open-ended-ness of front-end interactions with logical, countable possibilities of code/database back end. The article also presents several interesting examples of unique types of data and databases that might be stored, stored, and used in interactive pieces. I think that a ridiculous amount of time must have been spent labeling the stills from all of Starsky and Hutch, and I am continually impressed with the sheer volume of work that is required to keep so much data organized.