13.7.08

Technology and Magic Wands (V.08)


Vía Bryan Alexander
Bryan distinguished this quoting the blog Tarina: Teemu Arina's reflections on networked learning, knowledge and collaboration in organizations. And I went on to read more:

"The future of mobile phones is perhaps... not a mobile phone at all, but rather a contextually aware and active mobile magic wand. (...) It's a wand, I tell you. (...) It´s going to combine cloud computing, augmented reality and the internet of things in a meaningful way."
(Teemu Arina, June 30th, 2008, on the history of mobile phones... Go read his blog!)


Plus this wonderfully illustrative comment to Teemu Arina's post:


The origins of science involved the activities of alchemists and magicians, as much as the entertainment/funding practices of the time. In the early days of scientific practice, research with mechanical devices and other gadgets, frequently took place on stage. Science has evolved as institutionalized practice -in most regions so to say, and in a somewhat "flat world" we marvel with technology innovation and gadgets giving way to "discovery rituals" and cults that prevail in time.

In the the times of Houdini's "challenging the locks and chains to escape the barriers that constraint him" it attracted masses watching and maybe also dreaming about breaking their own chains... whatever those may have been. I like the way the two creative and informed mix&mash works above reflect relations with humans and the mystifying techno-objects we design ... the (techno) cultural practices and quest for something "magic" we sustain.

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