Tags / 3 quotes from 1 source
#cultural-tools
How Books Will Become Machines
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…
Book-machines versus the encyclopedia
It seems that books embodied in machines fail to deliver the main function of the printed book, i.e. allowing to structure complex discourses and narration. This is counterintuitive because mechanization steps usually offer more structuring options. Formalizing its conventional…
Simondon and the concretization of technical objects
In the Evolution of Technology, George Basalla gives a rather complete account of these various frameworks. Part of our study is influenced by the work of the French philosopher George Simodon. In Du Mode d’Existence des Objets techniques, Simondon articulates the role of the…