I think the title could use a "(2007)" notice because the same title analyzed today would be quite different, I imagine.
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The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
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Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#22This website is a blast from old web design. Nice!
Back then, it was, if not the height of design, at least within the horizon. Now, it just looks deranged and unreadable.
This particular page design can be read as an intentional response to Web2.0, something the authors of this article considered to be part of a broader campaign to remove "amateur" production from the web. They published a book, Digital Folklore, expanding on this idea a few years later: https://digitalfolklore.org/
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#23For the average person this might be kind true, however I can think of at least three places where desktop computers are very much cultural and symbolic: * “Gamers” or other enthusiasts with their battlestations [1] * Finace workstations with many monitors and Bloomberg terminals [2] * Potentially musician workstations as well [3] Any other niche ideas? [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/ [2] https://images.…
If it is central to home computing, I'd say audio/music workstations are a bit outside of that. However, if you allow that, then a video workstation would also follow.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#24Meanwhile Apple is trying to revive the iconic iMac G3 with the new colourful iMacs.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#25Laptops and tabletops are ubiquitous. The desktop computer is purely in the realm of the pc gaming enthusiast at this point.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#26[deleted]
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#27My desktop computer -which doubles as my workstation- is going to be 10 years old soon. The replacements during these years make it a beast to this day, it beats a $5000 Macbook Pro into a pulp for a fraction of the price. I'm not considering ditching it for now.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#28The home computer has been replaced with the iPhone. What boggles my mind is that the industry accepts Apple's restrictions on what kind of computing can happen, how their software can be distributed, and how their gross/margins are taxed. These devices have done a perverse thing to our field. Consumers love them, but fuck are they awful for freedom, business, and small time success. We used to build platforms in the…
Turns out the PC was an accident of history. Not an endpoint like some of us saw it, but simply an unfortunate stepping stone to the ultimate goal of making a really smart toaster. The end goal was never really to empower people, it was just to create a new market for rent-seeking via lock-in on a shiny new black box. No repairs allowed. No modding allowed. And you can go fuck yourself if you want the source code for anything. "Micro-computing," as it used to be called, was never intended as way for ordinary people to gain freedom and agency. It was just supposed to be another tool for the rich and powerful to extract wealth from everyone else. And now, thanks to always-online requirements, inescapable updates and aggressive planned obsolescence, that dream is finally a reality. Welcome back to the farm serf. You never really left.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#29For the average person this might be kind true, however I can think of at least three places where desktop computers are very much cultural and symbolic: * “Gamers” or other enthusiasts with their battlestations [1] * Finace workstations with many monitors and Bloomberg terminals [2] * Potentially musician workstations as well [3] Any other niche ideas? [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/ [2] https://images.…
If it is central to home computing, I'd say audio/music workstations are a bit outside of that. However, if you allow that, then a video workstation would also follow.
Part of a musician "workstation" is already an ipad (or more).
It's question of time, IMHO.
Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)
#30My desktop computer -which doubles as my workstation- is going to be 10 years old soon. The replacements during these years make it a beast to this day, it beats a $5000 Macbook Pro into a pulp for a fraction of the price. I'm not considering ditching it for now.
Mostly any pc you build with much less than $5k will beat a $5k MacBook pro