The Life and Death of Media

7/30/2019 The Life and Death of Media

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Bruce Sterg: THE lifE and dEaTH of mEdia

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Ths buet hs bee re-cpse, wth ths, r twprevus pubshe texts: The dEad mEdia Prject:a mest Prps Pubc appe (http://web.rchve.rg/web/20080708052419/www.ee.rg/est-prps.ht) The le deth me, speech gve t theSxth itert Spsu Eectrc art iSEa 95, mtreSept 19 1995 (http://stuet.vs.c/ee/speech.ht).

Cver ge: m R, Jacqueline Goddard (solarised negative),1932, oc m R Trust / agp aRS / Tege 2011

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lste t the wg, u gt hpsters. Ths s Jcquee Grspeg Jur 1995. Jcquee ws br 1911, she wse the 20th ceturs gret cs bhe et. m Rphtgrphe her Prs 1930, we c ge t wthut beg

sue b the Juet m R Trust, were g put brther m Rsc-u-w--stp-u-grgeus ge Jcquee up urvprwre Webste se. She be the ptr st ths ert.

Jcquee testes:

After a day of work, the artists wanted to get away from their studios,and get away from what they were creating. They all met in the cafes to

argue about this and that, to discuss their work, politics and philosophy ...We went to the bar of La Coupole. Bob, the barman, was a terribly nicechap ... As there was no telephone in those days everybody used him toleave messages. At the Dome we also had a little place behind the doorfor messages. The telephone was the death of Montparnasse.

The teephe ws the eth mtprsse. mu tht Surresttest ver tte whe, u ce-scet etes. Jcquee t gr TCP/iP, but she hs bee there e tht. i hvetstppe thg but tht rer sce i rst re t. fr wh esthe teephe be t? it ts r e theeser r ter.

. . .

He, es Bruce Sterg. i scece ct wrter r aust,

Texs. its ver pest t be here mtre t evet e iSEa.its press pest. as scece ct wrter, i hve eep bg terest eectrc rts. i ute. i cputer etwrs.i Cd-Rom. i vrtu ret. i the iteret. i the irt Super-hghw. i cberspce. Bsc, the ess e t sus, the better ie t.

These re tpcs tht i re t gre. it wu e grg the ervus

sste the rt scet. The brtr rt scece.The bttee rt wrre. The retpce the rtec. as we s e the strgest res the rt wr.

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Whe Jues Vere vete scece ct, Jues Vere ws stc-brer. ast b ccet, Jues Vere scvere tht 19th-ceturfrce h rge ret r tech-thrers. Jues Vere scvere e the treeus 19th-cetur cutur ppette r rtc,

uturstc techges e the ht-r b, the eectrc subre,the rbre btteshp, the c.

T, t the cse the 20th cetur, i ee gret sese srtwth sprtu cestr Jues Vere whe t ces t tpcs suchs vrtu ret, teepresece, rect s betwee br cputer. Eve s i st here bere u, i c scrce restr tur urge t te se these bg sh hgh-tech bs wth the

ht r the gt. But es getee, i hve see ths er s g w, r So many TimES, t s erettechges, tht i c ger t se wth sese exstetuthetct. i ust cess t u qute pe r tht i hvg crss cscece.

i the er 1995, rt techges re nEEd reht-brethg prt r scece ct wrters? i wu suggesttherwse. Te aT&Ts us yu W cpg. aT&Ts pubcrets cpg hs reche s pepeeve thugh aT&Thve just uce ps t re te thus ther w cputerpepe.

Hve u ever were aT&T hs re e wht there g?d u th tht aT&T hs re e wht the t us, ce the

rrve tht uture tht the re seg t us? d u ever wer whtaT&T re wts? yu W!

But t est aT&T es ce g scece ct cercs wthgret set esg. lets cser C Be. C Be s g creb rrgt ttept t trer the ter The net terwhch hs bee c prce wrwe sce t est 1986. CBe shu be sue r tht hubrs, ct the aRE beg

sue, r t est ppse curt.

Spts e ths e t cer tht the g tech-bster re

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scece ct wrters hs bee te ver b ew press css pubc rets hucsters teectu prpert ttres. Scecect wrters re ger eee t serve s hes r thesebuerg css.

nws, scece ct wrters shu u ther re. Scece ctwrters shu be exg spects e tht ct be prte s; spects e tht crprte pubc rets pepe reafRaid To look aT eep r t te us but. We shu betteptg t cheve cheret uerstg e.

i t sg, u, tht were ctu gg t ths e be

thg. i ere sg thts whts eee. Gve tht treeuschege, scece ct wrtg s rther eger respse t best.at ur best, be we scece ct wrters c ct s hrbgers rctsts, but wht s re eee t ths hstrc jucture s serusgeer gb ssesset ur techsc ct. Bere we stthe test ht--the-s-rve vers Wws fr Cvzt2.0, we ught t ru urseves ver serus. Prbb, bereepg pster ecsts t the bc he vrtut, we ughtt e stre se bc-ups the sste rst. our scet wu ths we h etr ttc c sese. But ever ,thts just pssg suggest.

Rther th weg tht, et e te u hw i reche ths rtstccrss e. Tw ths g, i she ew scece ct ve.its ve but vrtu ret rtsts Eurpe the te 21st cetur.

i th pepe ts gt rt cut w recgze ths ves tte vete r the. Ths s ve set hure ers rt, whch i prete tht gt rts pepe e the pepe riSEa hve bece the pets rt estbshet. i w ths s verr-etche t, but u c get w wth tht srt thg scecect ves.

The ve ws t u t wrte. i thught t ws ver vetve

cever, t et e bsur pese wth se. Urtute, i gt tthg serus but gt rt whe i ws wrtg ths b, thsrce e t crt se w ts.

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i t thg hr eugh but e. The pprches i hve beeusg re t shw, t gtter, t ce. i hve t get better grp.

me s ct. me s sethg tht s s t us. me c be

sethg tht we re s t, eve. me s ever thg. yu cbu bwth jb ts. yu c wtch teevs, bu bs, ves,recrs, Cds, but thts t t. Thts t whts terestg.

me s extes the seses.

me s e cscusess.

me s extr-stc er. its crstzt hu thughttht survves the eth the vu.

me geertes sucr. The echc repruct gess e.

me s es sc terct.

me s es c ctr.

me s sttstcs, wege tht s gthere geerte b thestte. me s eccs, trscts, recrs, ctrcts, e the recrs e.

me s the es cv scet pubc p. me s es

ebte ecs gtprpg.ne these re u wrg et the ter e, but there st the qutes ths phee tht i re reevt cpeg.

T tret ths tter serus, i ee r better uerstg th ihve. Were gettg re eep w, es getee; we ct

tre wth ths thg re. as scet, we hve bet the r the gt pertve. i ee t specute r ew prcpes ewssupts. i wt ew sthess. i wt t re w uerst

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hw e ve e.

mbe i get hertet tte wsh, be i wt. But w i wtt te u hw i p t g but tteptg ths.

frst, i wt t estr the Whg vers techgc hstr. i theWhg vers hstr, evets the pst hve beevet cspret pruce the crw cret, urseves. i the Whg vers e hstr, techgc evepets hve rche prgressvecstep, r heght t heght, t pruce the curret exte escpe. Ths s ver spe str. its cveet t tters urse-estee. its ver cheerg t supprters the e sttus qu

( there re supprters et), but t c be prve utrue.

it c be prve utrue b sterrg ssectg e e. oeuersts evut b stug the ss recr. The rce, thebet, the rgtte. The ures, the st the bure, the e-ut. The e precursrs ter successes. Se rs e re reere bsescet, but thers re urere. Se -vts re pushe ver hr b cever pweru pepe wth ts e, et the st . i tht prtcur terestg.

i t e terest ths tpc. m re cegue Rchrkre s s scece ct wrter, tgether we hve uche ert ce the de me Prject. Were usg the iteret t brgpepe tgether t ctg stu extct rs hu cu-ct. Were the e utps busess. Were t e rescs.

at the et, ur schr erts re ver est. We re curretegge spe r-c the esterrg stg ee.

m terest e e est e ive st terest rs e tht re struggg t be br. i spe t te the iteretthese s. fr stce, i e etre b e vbe

the iteret b ce The Hacker Crackdown. i the pst, iveuse the iteret s vt presst pubsh spre rtces speeches crtque. The de me Prject s ttept t vve

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the iteret cut ew eret spect b pructthe begg b, the rw reserch, the cceptu stges.Ths te i wt the pubc the b *bere ive wrtte t.*

i ct, i t eve WanT t wrte ths bThe Dead Media Hand-book, e gue r the cucts petgst. See eseshu wrte ths b, qute pssb see ths uece. i tprtcur wt t crete ti just wt t re t, bsrb ts useuesss, the g t r busess, whch s wrtg scecect ves.

i beeve tht the Dead Media Handbookw ct be wrtte, eve

i hve t bre w ctu wrte t se. But there w be prce t be p r the pruct ths b, tht prce w be theecesst bg teectu prpert.

i th ths s e e r b, but rther th hg t, i p tpubcze t we. its t tre secret; i t cre hw pepew i wrg t. i hve thg t g b prg ver ths secrec. a the tes reserch the de me Prject w bevbe t e wh js the reserch ert. it w be pubc-surce wege ctrbute b epeet schrs wrg prb. Ths rt w be ree.

i ths schee wrs, t w wr the w the iteret wrs: thrughprestge, etquette cts teectu geerst. i th tht bsc eve shu be cstructe the se w tht the iteret s

cstructe. i gg t gve t tr.i w tht pepe re wrg e stues r vret eret schr pprches, i respect thse erts. But there tet scrtchg vsr tch. i t th tht verrchg sthesesr egc suts re rer eti th wht s eee ws ewr. Cetres, cg r crers the cpss,r ver the wr, v e. mbe the cetr ster e

c be pste-bbe t subssbbe t eth bt b bt.

i strg suspect tht pepe ur bcgrus ccpshets

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c hep e ths prject, s i r beggg u t hep e.

The de me Prject hs bee pubc r but th h,but i wt t shre wth u se prer scveres. i rther

suspect tht the hve se est reevce r pepe iSEa.

lets cser ce. Ce s t e euce s hure ers , bvus ve, re r ess we. at est,ts st geertg pet reveue thse squch tte utpextheters. But ce e qute ew ther e. The mgclter, the Phestscpe, the Phtsgr, the Prxscpe,the Zetrpe, the mutscpe, the ftscpe. i u cse t

the evut ce u c see tht ce s t th,ts rt speces. E.J. mres Chbre Chrphtgrphque.The Es ketscpe. aschutzs Tchscpe. The Vtgrph, theCetgrphe, the Thetrgrph, the atgrph, the Urbr.

Ce s eu t e sue trupht ep r setves t su. Pepe were tteptg t j su t ce rst the begg. We reeber the uch-pubcze truphs eThe Jazz Singer, but we hve bee tught t sregr the uerusexperets tht e the brbe wre techgc vce.The Es ketphe. Guts Chrphe. The Schrscpe.The mvete. Ph. The Grphphscpe. The Vtphe.

These utt rs tg sgg ce weret gre becusethe e t wr. i t cses the wre just e. nb wh

vete these evces ever set ut t bu ure. The tru eexperets ever eve e t ut the b. These e speces ce were ws ge prce t be the cuttg ege,the stte the rt, the were geer uvee stte wethuss urus rubet r the press. The e becuse ctgec, t est.

Te Guts Chrphe, r stce. The e sus rther

rce s, but tht s t techc jugeet. Cevs,Cer, or these es re su ess s?Hw but appe QucTe, r CU-Seeme, r yh? But he, thse

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ct be sthse re er! i hpe ure t trg t suggesttht se pepe w ugh t US. He , were cbercuturewe ever be bsete.

Se e she ew e speces, but the geus ges vg. othere re urere.

Hve u ever her the qupu pre-Cub Peru? i u hve,ts r rce. The rchves ic qupu were bure b theSpsh cquerrs, ter the Cuc l the er 1583. Therere but 400 uthetc qupus et the etre wr. Ever st e the qupus we pssess ws ws ug ut hu grve. We,

t qute ever st e. i hppe t hve br-ew qupu here pcet. i ws g qute bt reg but qupu, s i ece i ee. The wr qupu es ccut the Quechu guge, s thequpu ws bsc ccutg evce ccutr. Ths s brc etwr t crr t. Ths ws the recrg eu tht theics h. it serve the recrg ucts ther scet.

n e t sees t hve re e hw these qupu wre. The e re r ess e ths ethe h thc brc bcbe,wth seres epeet rges. But the rges cu s hve rges.Setes there were s s sx subrectres cg the

bcbe the etwr. The h vret eret ts. The hqute we vret crs. Pepe hve the vguest es whtthe crs hve sge.

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The rgest reg qupu weghs but rt pus hs wever tw thus epeet crs. n e hs e wht thsevce sges r wht essge t crres. it ws bure wth Peruvgete wh ws est we-t-, but est pper t hve bee

prtcur pret.

The ics h e tht the pet hrbre cvzt ther thther w. as r s the were ccere, these qupu were the bsutepex hu teectu ccpshet. a e ust t the hve t t er. There ver ghtw cttthere prtbe urbe; crushpr. n prbe wth pwer surges r hecrshes.a g thg the were prtbe t, becuse e ther prr

ucts ws the cesus.

it ppers tht evere wthut except the ic re exste s t qupu sewhere. The ics were gret sters ethccesg. The thught thg rerg thuss pepe ut ther hes t stt res s peers setters. Evere spe ther pssesss t ther bcs et ete. Thst the qupu, there ws sp w the wu ever be sse bthe uthrtes. The ic ecc sste ws cetrze cec. a thr the ts ecc utput ws stre vst rs ste ces. Everthg w t the st s ws recre qupu.i t th there ws ever phbet qupu. i t th tht the icwere terte tht sh, becuse ther epre ws hureers . There ws thg t pruce tht u cu pece strg. But there hve bee geeges strgherrches,

be trees. mps, evethree s jure, the re buerver, the ught re btteu c ge hw useu suggestveths ght hve bee. mbe u cu ttc guge eve re rectwth qupu: eter, stress, qutt, ptch, egth the pewhshu ths be hr t beeve? i Egsh we setes c teg strspg r.

These ics were e texte ers. The h t w ctt,

the gveret e the grw t, ther we spu r ever ther ves. Whe qupucc re e these recrg evces,i t th hs ps ve. There ws thg crue r htg r prtve

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r pu but the experece qupu s cert re tcte sesu three-es experece th b.

The qupu ws eu. it ws w t cst the wr t etre

ew r rer. it ws eu vete b r ver creu ethc pepe, pepe wh e t t huge buers tgether s sugtht u cut sp e-be betwee the. fr the ics, ths wsthe net et tht cught ther pput seve tht te thewhe ter wr, seve tht e cu escpe.

yu w, ts utrete wr, i th ts qute g e tg t quet r wth qupu. G t r shut the eectrct.

dt t the qupu wth scr r cesces. Just h t urhs tr t prete tht ths s the pssbe bstrct retshp,beses speech, tht u hve wth the wr. Re tr t ge whtu re ssg b t cpreheg eccs, gveretbusess, verb cuct, s etwr cre r.Th ths s scpe, s ct gtve ccetrt, s hu eggeet wth pru e e tertve.

its tru ptu hw tte s w r reebere but the qupu, e eu whch ws ce the ervus sste jr cvzt.a et tht s b es the r t recr. Theres theTsctec ephutztz, the ow wrz, the Bv chpu.S, Egpt, Hw, Tbet, Beg, frs t recrs.S r, i w st thg but these be ther es. i e ter re. i i er re ure st, i te u but t.

Bere i beg the de me Prject, i h e tht tve nrthaerc wpu cu be hstrc recrs. i ws thught thtwpu were currec. mbe, e the qupu, wpu werebth currec recr t the se te. ige oUR currecwere eu. mbe ur currec SHoUld be eu. i ure experet e rtst, wh t u strt wrtg petr $20 bs see wht hppes? mbe u shu just wrte the ress ur

vrte web ste e, see wht hppes the s the b trvesr h t h. Pecur t, st tcuctg wth e?mbe weve just bee tre t tht t pecur.

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i eger t er re but wpu. i hpe see c te ebut the, shre tht rt wth e-e pepe. m eress s [email protected]. Thts bruces, wth s t the e.G he wrte e, t be sh. Were ths tgetherur

et hertge begs t et! We c strbute the t we ews, theres thg stppg us except r the RCmP, the fBi,the SPa, the Church Scetg. mbe these diSkS w hepu! [Begs gg de me Prject pp ss t uece.]

These re just hress text es, es getee. Prbb vrusree! i use eectrc text, becuse the tpewrter s g w. i theer s tpewrters wht weru es the h: Xver Prgs

mche krptgrphque, Guseppe Rvzzs Ceb-Scrv,Chres Thurbers Chrgrpher, J.B. frbs Phetc Wrter Cc Prter, s rth. a r hre tpg ches, the scrce recgzbe s such t the er ee. S the be ge. Swept w b the cputer.

The cputer. its te s s exrbe. its pwer s s ese. itstruph s s cpete. Wht we e exct whe we s: iveerze. i w cputer? are we re pssess cheess rt th Guseppe Rvzzs Ceb-Scrv?

Ths cputer s mctsh PwerB 180. a pressve che,st t? i te t, pers. i re tht ePwerB.it ss t but the rhetrc ur cuture chershes the 1990s.The e PwerB sehw suggests tht ths evce c st s g

s b, thugh eve the chepest pperbc w utve ths chequte es.

PwerB s g e, but t re prett e. Perscputers hve h uch pretter es. le the iterte Superbr ii.it ust hve bee extree cut t t bu iterte Superbr ii,eve thugh tht che s bsute s e s utt.

frgve e whe i uge bre setet r-c vshe gres.The vst ever-grwg eg e PCs. The atr 8800. Theastr. The appe ls. The aprct. The C Ct. The CpuPr

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Bg 16. The Ex Srcerer. Hw c srcerer e up e the juhep? Thts t suppse t hppe, were t eve suppset THink but tht. a cputer s srcerer wth superbr,ts t suppse t be g wth gret-grs Vctr.

The Hper, the mtte aqurus. The nrthStr Hrz theosbre Executve. The Xerx at the yh CX5m.

But wt! Theres re! de res! dzes zes ts-tc cpex expesve e res. de supercputers.de pertg sstes. We w tht esters pertg sstesre r err t ts Wws 95. Wws 95 s pertgsste whch s rereshg hest, becuse t hs exprt te

wrtte rght t. We w tht pertg sstes re bsutecrtc prtce cputg, but hw te we hest recgzetht?

Suppse u cpse eectrc rtwr r pertg sstetht subsequet es. it est tter hw uch cretve ert uveste tht prgr. it es t tter hw cever u wrte thece. The uber -hurs veste s reevce. yur rtstctheres ur sese cvct re pru bese the pt.i u chse t cue ptc essge, tht essge w ever grech hu er. yur chce t uece the rtsts wh ce teru s reuce rstc, st t . yu re se e pertgsste. Uess see eberte trstes u t ew ewth heve ws wht bertes trstu re e see se grus srcphgus. yu hve bece e e.

ast s e s the qupu.Ths s, curse, the rt tte secret the eectrcs ustr, therere t s the r C r eectrc rt. Whe we re surgthe web 1995, we re surg vst r se e cputers.We hve t sur, u seebecuse we re just whte scr up the surce. The wves ches rg beeth us re vg wth the heus reetessess mres lw, ubg pwer ever

eghtee ths, e rer gtue ece. i u re wrg cuttg-ege cputer t, u re wrg e percet thecuttg-ege cputer u w hve 20 ers r w.

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a be thtthe we-sprg prspect terps, ggps,petps. Heres the test ssue Sciencegze, wth tru hr-rsg rtce ce Cputer Scetsts Re -Th Ther dscpesfuts. i rece ths rtce hgh. Ths st sethg i e

up, uths s stu tht pepe t Prcet arge ntlbrtr re g up. Qutu dt cputers, te thus tesster tht ts stest crchps. optc cputers, e hurethus tes ster. Hgrphc t strge, e hure thustes ster.

Setes u th tht cputt hs t sw wtht t hs tbureucrtzebece re e r ustr. But the ure

crte wth et ther wese vst bsute pssbt!yu see es getee, we ve the Ge age de me.Wht we brght c ute thrves whe gx uttrecbt e, st the wth the wrg esp pc Twes. msterg tpc Cd-Rom s e sterg etre eweu b usg rze wtch-cursr. a the the che es.a the the pertg sste es. a the the cputer gugesupprtg tht pertg sste beces s e s the Httte guge.a the ete, ur etre cuture hs bee suce t the bche cputt, utter reetc prcess vrtu pebsescece.

But u wtht prcess eet be uexe r reetc.We c exe t wheever we e, the rtc pce s etre urw ut. Whts ur hurr w? Whe u t t r ther

ge, theres uexpecte ecus thr the thught tht vuhu begs c w survve whe geerts e. its eutvg the Svet U ce ever wee! Tht ws ever pssbebere, but r us, tht s e ret.

it puts ches t ctegr where ches prbb prperbegcru, buzzg, cu thgs wth the esp hsters.Ths PwerB hs the esp hster. Exct hw ttche

c i bece t ths che? Just hw uch et vestetc e e beve $3,000 hster?

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i suspect tht the prper tttuee tht re re pepe wshre the cg eus op pt. We re sgs t ur ere rt ewe the r ur sprt.

les getee, et e pre ur pt uerstg re e. i ure re eectrc rter pepe, the justce,u ught t et wht u re g. lets tr t see the gretersese trge jest ths whrw were cretg. Perhpsths rezt w ree us r the hpts ur w PR. i ret suggest tht t w e us better rtstsbut t est t hepestbsh where we re wht s cg. Sehw, t ght hep ussurvve. it ght eve hep us prev.

yuve bee ver t her e ut r s g. Ths ver uchr steg.

*

The Life and Death of Media

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