"The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They
weave
themselves into the
fabric of everyday life until they're indistinguishable
from it." That quote from computer scientist Mark Weiser is from a 1991 paper
where he outlined the vision of ubiquitous computing; he also referenced
"seamlessness" -- we just can't get away from textile metaphors! We catch
airline "shuttles", we "weave" through traffic, we follow comment "threads”...
The metaphors are as ubiquitous and abundant and threaded throughout our lives
as the textiles -- and computing -- all around us.
The story of textiles is in fact the history of technology and science --
across all kinds of fields, from biology to chemistry -- of commerce (and
management, measurement, machines) -- but most of all, of civilization itself.
That's what
https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/virginia-postrel
/the-fabric-of-civilization/9781541617605/" target="new">the new book,
The Fabric of Civilization: How
Textiles Made the World is all about: It is in fact a story of innovation
across time and place, of
human ingenuity... which is also the theme of the
a16z Podcast, and of this inaugural book episode with author
Virginia
Postrel in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.
Their discussion both dives deep, and lightly dips, into a wide range of
topics, covering: fabrics from the genetics of cotton to the supply chain of
silk (including early machines, early management techniques, maestra and
notions of expertise); the storage and transmission of knowledge, both
explicit and tacit -- including artifacts and manuals to notation and measures
and mathematics; NASA’s space program, knitting and AI, and the environmental
impact of dyes. They also discuss the what and the why -- really, the warp and
the weft of this episode! -- of
how innovation happens, including the
demographics and images involved. And finally, they cover the origin,
evolution, and meaning of
kente cloth (as well as other patterns) in Ghana
and beyond... But the story of textiles is not just a story of one culture or
many: it is a universally
human story, woven from countless threads.
### links & other articles mentioned in this episode:
*
YouTube &
Instagram from author, featuring images cited among others
*
The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American, 1991
*
Every topological surface can be knit: a proof, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 2009
*
How an AI took over the an adult knitting community, The Atlantic, 2018
*
Rijksmuseum
*
In Ghana, pandemic inspires new fabrics, Christian Science Monitor 2020
*
Welcome to the new world civilization, Reason, 2020
image: © Sarah-Marie Belcastro /
courtesy Virginia Postrel
Leer más
"The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They
weave
themselves into the
fabric of everyday life until they're indistinguishable
from it." That quote from computer scientist Mark Weiser is from a 1991 paper
where he outlined the vision of ubiquitous computing; he also referenced
"seamlessness" -- we just can't get away from textile metaphors! We catch
airline "shuttles", we "weave" through traffic, we follow comment "threads”...
The metaphors are as ubiquitous and abundant and threaded throughout our lives
as the textiles -- and computing -- all around us.
The story of textiles is in fact the history of technology and science --
across all kinds of fields, from biology to chemistry -- of commerce (and
management, measurement, machines) -- but most of all, of civilization itself.
That's what
https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/virginia-postrel
/the-fabric-of-civilization/9781541617605/" target="new">the new book,
The Fabric of Civilization: How
Textiles Made the World is all about: It is in fact a story of innovation
across time and place, of
human ingenuity... which is also the theme of the
a16z Podcast, and of this inaugural book episode with author
Virginia
Postrel in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.
Their discussion both dives deep, and lightly dips, into a wide range of
topics, covering: fabrics from the genetics of cotton to the supply chain of
silk (including early machines, early management techniques, maestra and
notions of expertise); the storage and transmission of knowledge, both
explicit and tacit -- including artifacts and manuals to notation and measures
and mathematics; NASA’s space program, knitting and AI, and the environmental
impact of dyes. They also discuss the what and the why -- really, the warp and
the weft of this episode! -- of
how innovation happens, including the
demographics and images involved. And finally, they cover the origin,
evolution, and meaning of
kente cloth (as well as other patterns) in Ghana
and beyond... But the story of textiles is not just a story of one culture or
many: it is a universally
human story, woven from countless threads.
### links & other articles mentioned in this episode:
*
YouTube &
Instagram from author, featuring images cited among others
*
The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American, 1991
*
Every topological surface can be knit: a proof, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 2009
*
How an AI took over the an adult knitting community, The Atlantic, 2018
*
Rijksmuseum
*
In Ghana, pandemic inspires new fabrics, Christian Science Monitor 2020
*
Welcome to the new world civilization, Reason, 2020
image: © Sarah-Marie Belcastro /
courtesy Virginia Postrel
Leer menos