Tedium Highlight in Technology: DRM, one of the internet’s dark arts, was already in the works—complete with epic patents—years before the existence of Napster gave it a business case. 

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Tag results: Technology

Social Gloss

In continuing with our long series of glossary entries, let’s take a look at some online-community-related terms hiding in the archives.

Disposability Interchange

Considering the tension between disposability and interchangeable parts, and how right to repair opponents are trying to have it both ways.

Free As In Internet

In the '80s, a defining online phenomenon—being able to use the internet for free—came from (of all places) Cleveland. Here’s the story of the Free-Net.

The Central Question

What is the difference between centralization and decentralization, and what should you know? I was asked this question recently; here’s my attempt to answer.

You Know, For Kids

Pondering the uncomfortable relationship kids and parents have with technology—and making a case that kids deserve the chance to fall in love with gadgets.

Vestigial Tales

Why the products you use every day, especially electronics, might come with parts or functions you weren’t expecting or have no actual use for.

So Much Stuff Out There

It’s been a while since we’ve done a grab bag, so let’s grab that bag and see what’s inside.

No More Eternal Septembers

For decades, technical users looking down on the less knowledgeable have set the stage for a lot of bad online discourse. Can those users break the chain?

Now You’re Playing With Power

How I found home networking nirvana with a powerline connection, a form of home networking that might be called poor man’s ethernet. No drilling involved.

The Email Appliance

The story of the MailStation, an information appliance that didn’t do much, really, except send email. That, somehow, makes it even more interesting today.

Mistakes Were Made

Technology vendors like SAP may rake in billions of dollars a year helping big companies build complex tech infrastructures, but they screw up—often, at scale.

My Modular Mind

What makes modular designs great for consumers often makes them troublesome for businesses, or why you can’t upgrade an iPhone these days.

Hindsight Is 2020

The decade’s over, and Tedium is another year older. Here’s some thoughts on the past, future, and preservation amid our fifth anniversary.

Text By Procedure

A short history of procedurally generated text, which both humans and computers have had a hand in making throughout history.

Historic Digital Places

Corporate motivation isn’t enough when it comes to digital preservation. Here’s a case for creating a National Register of Historic Places for websites.

Innovation Versus Preservation

How we keep screwing over yesterday’s technology due to an intent focus on what we’re doing today. The problem of planned obsolescence is getting worse.

The Air of Superiority

For more than 100 years, the cool breezes of air conditioning have taken hold around the world. It took us about as long to even consider the side effects.

Upgrade Arbitrage

The charm of buying old workstation hardware on the cheap to support your modern computing needs. If it doesn’t work for them, it might just work for you.

Extreme Googling

It’s easy to forget given its size, but Google fundamentally changed our relationship with information. Two decades later, we’re still feeling the effects.

Close Your Open Tabs

A case in favor of browser tab minimalism, or closing the tabs you’re not using. Sometimes, information overload has its limits.
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