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Cliff Nass

Dr. Cliff Nass' career owes much to strange situations, people who were willing to take risks, and a devotion to pure weirdness. He's the ultimate example of the "odd bird" in our field - the one who wandered through disciplines until he helped create a new one. Along the way, he picked up the best morsels of research and tidbits of insights to bring with him. Today, he sheds light on the way people interact with computers by reminding us of the ways we interact with people.

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Excerpts From the Interview

There is a misunderstanding that 'computer' and 'mediated' are radically different; that if it's a medium its a medium and if it's a direct relation it's a direct relationship. There's absolutely no understanding of the fact it can be both.

Just steal stuff; it's all there. It's not hidden. It's not secret. It's really all there and it's just a matter of stealing it appropriately.

More About Cliff Nass

Cliff Nass changed the way we think about computers, introducing the idea that computers are social actors, thus ushering in new thinking in human-computer interaction. He's the author of The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers and Wired for Speech. Cliff is currently Professor of Communication at Stanford University, where he also heads up the Director of the Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab.