tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70402767038188247882024-03-08T06:25:20.706-08:00An Archaeology of ComputersEfstathioshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12996070585084539967noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040276703818824788.post-53189667747782893132008-05-10T05:13:00.001-07:002008-05-10T05:13:47.269-07:00AbstractThis study examines computing material culture, as it was developed from the 19th century, onwards. A series of case studies on selected computing artefacts from the computing collection of the Science Museum in London, is creating the argument on the demonstration agenda that it is followed from technological museums, in preserving contemporary electronic artefacts. <br />The essay continues in the identification of social meanings that computing artefacts can hold in the opposition of an approach based on technological progression. The historic background of each artefact and the lives or their inventors are being examined for an interpretation which aims to be multi-dimensional and not always technology-oriented.<br />Other aspects such as the enchanting qualities created by the performance of obsolete technology contribute to a dialogue on the function and relative value of computing artefacts and the impacts of those aspects on computing devices that have become museum exhibits.<br />The notion of the authenticity of computing artefacts is also subject of discussion, as some of them that are subjects of this research, are reproductions, or placed in an artificial “authentic” environment.<br />All these topics raise the emergence of historical archaeology as part of the demonstrative agenda of the technological collections, in preserving human-oriented meanings of computers and a more critical approach to technology.<br /><br />Keywords<br />Computers, Archaeology, Material Culture, Enchantment, Authenticity, Commodity Fetishism, Surveillance, Technological MuseumsEfstathioshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12996070585084539967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040276703818824788.post-84466555492777343842008-05-10T05:08:00.000-07:002008-05-10T05:12:27.046-07:00ContentsINTRODUCTION <br />LITERATURE REVIEW <br />METHODOLOGY<br />THE BABBAGE DIFFERENCE ENGINE <br />Charles Babbage: a computer pioneer <br />The Analytical Engine <br />The construction of a contemporary Difference EngineNo.2 <br />The Victorian Technology <br />The Difference Engine No.2 as a museum exhibit <br />Re-enchantment: now and then <br />Alone, against a growing bureaucracy <br />THE 1930’S PUNCHED-CARD OFFICE <br />Herman Hollerith, census and tabulators <br />Punched-card technology on display <br />Digging the office <br />Card meanings… <br />…and alternatives <br />A holistic interpretation <br />THE FERRANTI-PEGASUS COMPUTER <br />20th century warfare and computing technology <br />A 1950’s vacuum tube computer <br />The mind behind Pegasus <br />The oldest working computer in the world <br />The restoration of Pegasus <br />Pegasus performing <br />Museum Interpretation <br />Alternative Approaches <br />TOWARDS MODERN COMPUTING <br />Cray 1A and Supercomputing <br />Seymour R. Cray: the father of supercomputing <br />Integrated circuits <br />Inside Cray 1A <br />The aesthetics of Cray <br />A meaningful interpretation <br />PERSONAL COMPUTER: AN ACCIDENTAL MACHINE <br />PC’s as museum objects <br />Apple I & II <br />The Macintosh: a computer for ‘the rest of us” <br />Commercialising the personal computer <br />Commodity Fetishism <br />DISCUSSION <br />The concept of the Universal Machine <br />The individual thought <br />The social impetus of computing <br />The fortuity of computing <br />Authenticity and Enchantment <br />Aesthetics and commodity fetishism reconsidered <br />CONCLUSION <br />BIBLIOGRAPHYEfstathioshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12996070585084539967noreply@blogger.com