Gaming

Bogost, Cows Graze in Current Edition of Wired

Atlanta, GA (December 22, 2011) — In July of 2010, Ian Bogost, director of Georgia Tech’s Digital Media graduate program, was so disgusted by the “mindless” games taking over Facebook that he created one of his own. A year and a half later, the game has landed him in the pages of the current (January) edition of Wired magazine.

Bogost developed Cow Clicker for Facebook last summer as a joke. His only goal was to create a repetitive, pointless and unrewarding game that ridiculed popular successes such as FarmVille. In that regard, Cow Clicker was an overwhelming triumph.  Players saw a cow on the screen, clicked the image and were told to return later to click it again. Aside from a “moo” and a notification on the player’s Facebook profile, nothing else happened with each click.

Despite its dullness, and to Bogost’s surprise, 50,000 people signed up within the first two months. Some even paid real money for the opportunity to click their cows multiple times a day. If you know Bogost’s sarcastic personality, you probably won’t be surprised to find out what he did next to the clickers.

Read the article here. Staying true to Bogost’s roots in our digital media program, the Wired story is also a game of its own. Each time you see the word “cow” in the story, click it. See if you can “cownt” all 97.

For more information contact:

Jason Maderer
Georgia Tech Media Relations
404-385-2966
maderer@gatech.edu

Photos

Click on an image below to see the full photo

  • Cow Clicker 1
  • Cow Clicker 2

Faculty

  • Amy Bruckman

    Amy Bruckman

    Associate Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Educational Technology, Social Networking/Online Communities, Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, Internet Research Ethics, Human Computer Interaction, Human Computer Interaction for Kids

  • Carl DiSalvo

    Carl DiSalvo

    Assistant Professor
    School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

    Areas of Expertise:
    Participatory Design, Critical Design, Design Studies, Robotics and Sensing in Art and Community Settings

  • Keith Edwards

    Keith Edwards

    Associate Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Social Impacts of Technology, Home Network Security, Home Networking, Human-Computer Interaction

  • Irfan Essa

    Irfan Essa

    Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
    School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

    Areas of Expertise:
    Computational Video, Computational Photography, Computational Journalism, Computational Media, Computational Perception

  • Beki Grinter

    Beki Grinter

    Associate Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Societal Impacts of Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Supported Cooperative Work

  • Renu Kulkarni

    Renu Kulkarni

    Executive Director, FutureMedia

    Areas of Expertise:
    Convergence of digital, social, mobile and multimedia industries, Strategic Alliances, Industry Partnerships, Open Innovation Practices

  • Blair MacIntyre

    Blair MacIntyre

    Associate Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing
    School of Literature Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

    Areas of Expertise:
    Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mobile Games, Social Games, Augmented Reality Games, Video Game Design, Video Game Architecture

  • Ali Mazalek

    Ali Mazalek

    Assistant Professor
    School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

    Areas of Expertise:
    Tangible Interfaces, Experimental Media, Media Arts, Interaction Design, Emerging Technologies

  • Janet Murray

    Janet H. Murray

    Ivan Allen College Dean's Professor
    School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

    Areas of Expertise:
    Game Design, Interactive Narrative, Interactive Television, Media Convergence, Information Design, Digital Media and Education

  • Elizabeth Mynatt

    Elizabeth Mynatt

    Director, GVU Center
    Professor, School of Interactive Computing
    Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Initiatives
    College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Computing, Health Informatics, Ubiquitous Computing, Assistive Technologies

  • Ashwin Ram

    Ashwin Ram

    Associate Professor
    School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Case-Based Reasoning, Natural Language, & Game/Entertainment AI), Human-Centered Computing - Cognitive Science, Healthcare Informatics

  • Bruce Walker

    Bruce Walker

    Associate Professor
    School of Psychology, College of Sciences School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing

    Areas of Expertise:
    Interactive Music, Mobile Music, Human-Computer Interaction, Auditory Perception, Psychology