This is the first large-scale assignment of this class, asking you to do a bit of archaeology on some contemporary or recently-contemporary artifact of contemporary technology. Your goal is to learn about how media and media technology are situated within our lives, so much so that each of our devices has many human stories to tell. Research, discover, and share one of those stories about a device of your own.
On July 4th, I went to the Ferry Farm site for their Independence Day activities. There, I talked with an archaeologist who takes the fragments of glass they dig out of the home site and attempts to find what kind of cup or plate that fragment was once part of. With that cup identified, she can, in turn, reconstruct part of the daily life of the Washingtons.
Imaqine a future civilization of, let's say, sentient machines. What would they learn about your life by studying your old computer? An old gameboy? What traces have you left that make it your own? Or further back, what would that future civilization assume about our society that is capable of producing such things as XBoxes and iPhones? Could they reconstruct the entire supply chain of materials and labor that make it possible?
By successfully completing this project, you will
For this project, we are interested in specific devices. That is, we're not looking to learn about for example the iPhone as a product design or concept. Rather, we're interested in learning about your iPhone, the one in your drawer that isn't activated but you still keep for some reason. Or maybe you have an old Atari in the Attic or a VCR that doesn't work any more.
The older your device, the better, but it should be something that you don't need to work ever again. You'll be taking it apart in step 2, and that deconstruction is often a one-way process. If you can't find anything on your own, I recommend a trip to Goodwill where you can find barely-working electronics for just a few dollars.
Also, your sacrificial device should be a media technology of some sort -- something that can play or record sounds, images, games, etc. In the past, students have studied things like game consoles, cassette players, VCRs, desktop computers, laptops, printers, radios, and phones.
Do NOT choose an old CRT TV or anything with a built-in CRT monitor. These can be very dangerous.
For this step, you'll need a few supplies:
Regarding screwdrivers, a good Philips-head with a small tip will get you pretty far. For some devices, however, you may need special implements like "tri-wings" and security bits, especially for Nintendo devices, or possibly a Torx bit, especially for Apple devices.
If you get stuck on a screw, post a picture in Slack and hopefully someone will recognize it.
In deconstructing your device, your goal is to able to see the main components that make up your device. They don't need to be completed separated in order to study them individually.
Each device has many story to tell. For this assignment choose one of these three:
Each of these stories requires a different kind of research.
To learn where your device came from, learn about its components. To find out about your devices components, look closely at the markings to determine when and where those components were manufactured. Even though your device will have its final country of origin labeling on the outside (i.e. "Made in Malaysia"), many of its components were likely made in other countries. Even if they're labeled with just a country, you can usually discover a much more specific date and place (down to the city) where each was manufactured. This is a challenge! And it usually involves some educated guesswork. If your device has chips (integrated circuits), they'll usually have at least three markings on them: the logo or name of the manufacturer, a serial or part number identifying what kind of chip it is, and a date code.
Date codes follow several different formats, but they're easy to read once you know how to identify them. Similarly, manufacturer logos are typically pretty easy to recognize once you know what you're looking for. This web site has a thorough list, which you pretty much just have to browse through.
If your device doesn't have any or many ICs, you will probably have some plastic, which has its own form of date marking. Reading those does require a bit of interpretation and context.
Serial numbers and part numbers are just about the only thing you may find from straighforward Googling, but bear in mind that any info you find -- a "Datasheet", for example -- refers to the general design of that sort of chip, not your specific model. Many general purpose chips will be manufactured by dozens of different companies, so you need to make sure you're researching your exact chip by its manufacturer.
Once you've got a few chips identified by manufacturer and date, you can start using that to triangulate the specific origin location for your chip. If you know, for example, that your chip was made by Sanyo in February 1986, look for a corporate history of Sanyo to see if you can find locations of factories that would have been operating in 1986. Gather as much information as you can about as many of these components as you can (at least 8).
This is the story of your device as your device. The research, therefore, will be more recollection and recovery on your part, but it still should have the same detail as the component history. That is, you should be able to find, recall, or embellish (if necessary) at least 8 significant events in this device's history. This should include when and where it was purchased and when and where it became obsolete. If possible, find exact dates or even photographic evidence for each of these events, and prepare a detailed textual description of that event, focusing on your device. You may even choose to tell the story of that event from the perspective of your device.
This option will require some speculation, but like the others, it should be as specific as possible. For example, don't simply say your device will be recycled. Instead, find which recycling facility you will take your device to, find out what they do with their materials and where, and follow your device from there. For example, you may find that local recyclers don't process their own material here but rather sell it to processors in other countries where the breaking down actually takes place.
You should also be able to find out what materials in your device are recyclable, and in turn, you may be able to find devices made from recycled materials of the sort your device contains.
Also, if your device has plastic in it (it definitely does), you can determine what kind of plastic it is and how long it takes that kind of plastic to biodegrade under the conditions it will likely be in if you were to throw it away tomorrow.
Like the other options, you should identify 8 significant events in the future of this device, and document them with as much detailed description and visual evidence as possible.
This is where the story starts to take shape, in an interactive timeline using Timeline JS. This is a powerful tool for making elegant, media-rich timelines, and like most tools, it takes some getting used to. Conveniently, the database that creates a Timeline is stored in a Google Spreadsheet, which makes it easy to create content and even collaborate.
Whichever story option you choose, your timeline should contain:
And each event should include:
Once your Timeline is complete, write a blog entry on your website describing and reflecting on your project and linking to or embedding your timeline. In your discussion, reflect on the hardest parts of this assignment, the most interesting things you discovered, your research process, or anything else you think is relevant or could be interesting to someone who finds your work.
Share the link to this blog post by Midnight on Sunday, July 8.