Human-Machine Design by Brian Massumi

"Early in the next millenium your left and right cuff links or earrings may communicate with each other by low-orbiting satellites and have more power than your PC." Have you ever wondered what your earrings would say to each other if they could have a confidential conversation? I have to confess I hadn't. One of the endearing things about Nicholas Negroponte, who conjured up this image, is that he hasn't either. What fascinates him, in Being Digital (1), is the possibility of the connection. Why bother with gossipy cuff-links? Because they would connect. The titillation is less in the gadget itself, or in the goal of the gadgeting, than in the joy of connection. Negroponte is animated by a connection fetish that is refreshing in its lack of moralizing about what we should do in the future Negroponte's Media Lab is so busy manufacturing for us. For Negroponte, it is never really a question of goals or utility. Being Digital is all about interface, for interfaces' sake. Why?more....