Technologies are Words
An Offline Camp passion talk from Ray Daly
In his passion talk at Offline Camp California, Ray Daly argued that technologies are words. We use new technologies, like new words, to describe concepts that pre-existing language wasn’t built to conceive of. “Each of these technologies allows us to [tell] a story differently,” Ray says. And those tools we construct to describe the world also limit our own perception of it.
As we explore Offline First movement, Ray asks us to examine it through the lens of Marshall McLuhan’s tetrad of media effects (as shared in his posthumously published Laws of Media):
What does the medium enhance?
What does the medium make obsolete?
What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?
What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?
Ray has been exploring both the media and Offline First for years, having worked on the team that built the Washington Post’s first mobile web app — designed to function offline — back in 2012. Ray strongly believes that democracy depends on the free press, and recently created the #presspledge website to encourage others to support independent journalism.
You can hear more from Ray on his Offline First pursuits in the latest episode of the New Builders podcast (starting at 1:02:34):
Editor’s Note: Participants at Offline Camps have diverse backgrounds and interests, ranging far beyond the Offline First approach that we come together to discuss. Through short passion talks, campers share with us some of the hobbies, projects, and technologies that excite them. We offer you this taste of that passion for as a preview to our upcoming events. Learn more at the camp website or follow us on Twitter for updates.
