How Books Will Become Machines / quote 2 of 21

Cultural tool vs cultural machine

As machines, they offer much more possibilities than traditional ones. However, these various new modes of usage are explicitly programmed. A paper map can be used freely, including for other purposes than its original function (wrapping an object, taking a note). It is a cultural tool. A digital map can only be accessed through specific input and output commands: the specific usage rules have been internalized. It is a cultural machine. [...] As maps became machines, they are progressively merged into a global me- chanic system in which a multitude of maps became aggregated into a single one. This is the corollary of our hypothetical rule: As regu- lated representations get more regular, they tend to aggregate into unified systems.

Saved 14 March 2013 / fkaplan.files.wordpress.com ↗

#cultural-tools #machine #representation #rules

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