Calculating Empires: an huge online chart of tech history

[beschizza]

Originally published at: Calculating Empires: an huge online chart of tech history - Boing Boing

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[chromecow]

That is a mostly wonderful thing! This thing is definitely an…eyeworm, like an earworm, but for the eye…nope this is not working.

I like it! It’s one of those infographics that sparks more questions the longer you look at it.

[simonize]

Inevitably, a two dimensional diagram can’t easily capture the interconnectedness of things. I guess that’s why fingerprints are in there twice and typesetting is not close to printing presses. And why clipper ships are in the military section even though they were cargo ships.

[lizard-of-oz]

@beschizza

monochrome

I wish it was in color, or at least not white on black, of all things. Designers never seem to care much for accessibility.

In the current state, it is simply a poster, that works somewhat zoomed in, but zooming out and getting an overview is hindered by the small headlines and the lack of color.

Edit: on most browsers colors can be inverted, and there is a navigational element below the map

@simonize

Inevitably, a two dimensional diagram can’t easily capture the interconnectedness of things.

Well, one could include links between sections.

[robertmckenna]

@lizard-of-oz

or at least not white on black, of all things. Designers never seem to care much for accessibility.

It has both light and dark modes. It’s more accessible to me in dark mode so I’m glad of that.

[anon33176345]

A wonderful thing that must represent many, many hours of effort.

I will not bother trying to find something to carp about.

[lizard-of-oz]

@robertmckenna

It has both light and dark modes. It’s more accessible to me in dark mode so I’m glad of that.

Thanks for pointing that out, I can see that there’s a button for that below the map on my phone, but it’s not there on my work laptop for some reason. Probably some extension that’s messing with it.

@beschizza

you can zoom in and out of to trace the connections between all such things in the modern age

Most connections are vertical or inside the columns, though, cross-column connections do exist in the map, but they are rather rare even in the section about computing and communication (the layout obscures this a fair bit, I think) and becoming rarer as one moves to the right of the map, where it’s mostly entirely separate columns.

I can see how that design would work really well as a physical installation (see the info page for more photos:

Dark mode:

Light mode:

And that also explains why the digital version has no hyperlinks for connections or background information (although it appears the exhibitions contained more information and physical objects) no searchable text, and no colors.

Calculating Empires has won the European Commission’s 2024 Grand Prize for Artistic Exploration in Science, Technology, and the Arts. […] Previous winners include Richard Mosse, Holly Herndon and Matt Dryhurst.

I’m sure the previous winners are also worth checking out, the website linked above has details.

[csilvest]

This the sort of wonderful thing I come here for. It’s like all of James Burke’s Connections in one view.

Not gonna get much accomplished tonight.

[robertmckenna]

@csilvest

This the sort of wonderful thing I come here for. It’s like all of James Burke’s Connections in one view

Just what I was thinking of too. I think that show had a huge influence on me when I was a child. I don’t think I understood anything. It just excited me!