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ciberhistory and e-scribe

ciberhistory #1 (e-scribe 1), 2012

REAL SIZE: 0.2 x 0.3 in

Limited Edition of 20: 12 x 17 in     $500

    "      "   of  9: 23 x 35 in   $3,000

    "      "   of  5: 46 x 69 in  $10,500

disk drive

e-scribe

human

writing

history

memory

knowledge

cyberhistory

machine language

read/write

data

byte

bit

photonics

nanotechnology

quantum mechanics

quantum electronics

information technology

ciberhistory #2 (e-read/write), 2012

REAL SIZE: 0.017 x 0.025 in

Limited Edition of  9: 23 x 35 in   $2,200

    "      "   of  5: 35 x 52 in   $6,500

ciberhistory #3 (e-scribe 2), 2012

REAL SIZE: 0.17 x 0.25 in

Limited Edition of  9: 17 x 26 in   $1,300

    "      "   of  5: 23 x 35 in   $3,500

ciberhistory

The arrival of (cyber)reading and (cyber)writing heralds a new stage in human development: (cyber)history.

Electronic reading-writing devices add to Sumerian terracotta tablets, Egyptian papyri, Gutenberg's printing press, the writing machine, and other advances in the history of writing.

Thanks to these electronic devices we can store information expressed in machine language: endless sequences of ones and zeros recorded in floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, hard drives, flash memory units, or solid-state drives.

Only machines are able to decipher their own writing, a calligraphy of magnetic microfieldsand microperforations that we can only

access through a screen interface.

We are increasingly reliant on them for recording our own history, and to this end we employ their language and supports. We thus bequeath our legacy in the form of digital (cyber)historical files.

 

Two technological landmarks have adopted an unassuming appearance in these images: the floppy disk drive and the hard drive. They hide a degree of complexity and precision only found theretofore in the pages of science-fiction novels. Their "modest" read-and-write speeds are thousands of times larger
than those of humans.

The head of a hard drive moves over the disk at a height 20,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, while the disk spins 5000 to 15,000 times per minute in order to access

data in milliseconds.

Progress in quantum electronics, photonics, nanotechnology, microelectronics, and other disciplines have made these magnificent devices possible, machines whose discrete appearance disguises an
amazing functionality.

 

 

Antonio Romero

human,

writing,

history,

memory,

knowledge,

cyberhistory,

machine language,

magnetic head,

read/write,

disk drive,

computer,

data,

byte,

bit,

photonics,

quantum electronics,

quantum mechanics,

information technology,

information science,

nanotechnology,

microelectronics,

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