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Skeuonyms and Collapsitarians

Just finished Kevin Kelly’s latest book, What Technology Wants, and learned two new words/phrases.

Skeuonym – an expression left over from an older technology, no longer used. Examples include, “rewinding the tape,” “dialing the phone, “filming a movie,” or “cranking the engine.”

Anti-civilization Collapsitarian – folks like the Unabomber who view technology with suspicion and fe

What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly

The book was thought-provoking and I’m sure I’ll be referring it to again and again. My full review here on Good Reads.

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Ian Kennedy

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3 responses to “Skeuonyms and Collapsitarians”

  1. Hugo Avatar
    Hugo

    “Give us a bell.”

    Reply
  2. Ashish Gupta Avatar
    Ashish Gupta

    “I thoroughly enjoyed Kelly’s unique perspective on technology as an extension of our bodies. ” – From Ian’s book review in Good Reads

    reminds me of a book I read 20 years back by Marshall Mcluhan – The Medium is the Message,”

    For McLuhan a medium is “any extension of ourselves”, or more broadly, “any new technology”. – Wikipedia

    Curious how is Kelly different than What Marshall said 40 years back?

    Reply
    1. iankennedy Avatar
      iankennedy

      I believe Kelly’s phrasings owe a great deal to Mcluhan’s thesis and he references Mcluhan several times. While TV and advertising was the emergent technology of Mcluhan’s day, the internet is Kelly’s.

      Reply

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