The "Variantology" of the New
Media Archaeology is the "variantology" of the present. It looks at the roads not taken in technological history to understand why we ended up here. Archaeobytology applies this theory to the practical work of digital rescue.
Key Concepts
- Deep Time: Understanding that the "Cloud" is just the latest iteration of the mainframe/terminal model from the 1960s.
- Zombie Media: The idea that media never dies; it just gets recycled and haunts the living (e.g., the QWERTY keyboard on your iPhone).
Field Notes
The Difference: Media Archaeology is the theory (reading Foucault in a library). Archaeobytology is the practice (using a screwdriver to open a hard drive in a basement).