[Air-l] failed media

[Jonathan Sterne]

At 12:01 PM -0500 3/11/04, air-l-request at aoir.org wrote:
>Message: 5
>From: "Mattia Miani" <katanankes at yahoo.com>
>To: <air-l at aoir.org>
>Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 21:16:56 +0100
>Subject: [Air-l] Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #1001 - 8 msgs
>Reply-To: air-l at aoir.org
>
>Hi all.
>
>Time ago, i believe, someone issued on the list a call for chapters for a
>book aimed at exploring how forms of new media have failed in the past. An
>intriguing question. Does anybody know id they came out with the book?
>
>Mattia Miani
>University of Bologna

Hi Maria,

I have no idea who posted that call.  There is a dead media database 
somewhere online, and failure is an ongoing theme in the history of 
communication technology.  For a good theoretical take, check out 
John Durham Peters _Speaking Into the Air_ and Briankle Chang 
_Deconstructing Communication_ (especially the last chapter). 
Otherwise, I'd recommend any of the classic media histories available 
-- most of them deal at some length with ulternatives and unrealized 
plans.

Charles Acland at Concordia is editing a book called _Residual Media_ 
(in which I have a chapter on computer obsolescence) and I am working 
on a book about abject moments in the 20th century history of 
communication technology (pretty US-centric but not exclusively) -- 
failure, obsolescence, decline, absurdity.  There's also an upcoming 
conference at a school in Florida (forget which one) on media 
disasters.

Best,
--J
-- 
Jonathan Sterne, Assistant Professor
Department of Communication, University of Pittsburgh
http://www.pitt.edu/~jsterne