~openculture | Bookmarks (6)
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How Photos Were Transmitted by Wire in 1937: The Innovative Technology of a Century Ago
When did you last send someone a photo? That question may sound odd, owing to the...
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An Introduction to the Astrolabe, the Medieval Smartphone
Image by Anders Sandberg, via Wikimedia Commons Asked to imagine the character of everyday life in...
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The Armored-Knight “Robot” Designed by Leonardo da Vinci (circa 1495)
Image by Erik Möller, via Wikimedia Commons Those of us who were playing video games in...
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Isaac Asimov Predicts the Future in 1982: Computers Will Be “at the Center of Everything;” Robots Will Take Human Jobs
Four decades ago, our civilization seemed to stand on the brink of a great transformation. The...
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Before ChatGPT, There Was ELIZA: Watch the 1960s Chatbot in Action
In 1966, the sociologist and critic Philip Rieff published The Triumph of the Therapeutic, which diagnosed...
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Why Perpetual Motion Machines Never Work, Despite Centuries of Experiments
According to the laws of physics — at least in simplified form — an object in...