Our Friend the Computer

Ana tells Camila about the flashing success of early Japanese smartphone tech. The girls discuss how the Japanese tech giants of the '90s and early '00s created exceedingly advanced and snazzy smartphone features and how such phones warranted the creation of the "second internet”. Circling the debate around Japan’s “economic miracle”, they talk about the politics and interrelation with the US that came after WW2.

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And follow us on Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer and Twitter @OurFriendComp 

Main research was done by Ana.  Audio editing by Ana.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages).
Interstitial sounds from the Media Archaeology Lab.
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

References -
World Top 20 Companies by Market Capitalization in 1989 and 2019: https://www.funalysis.net/economy-times-are-changing-world-top-20-companies-by-market-capitalization-in-1989-and-2019
The rise & fall of Japanese phone giants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voyuy1rySX4
The Origin and Spread of Mobile Phones: https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/hitech/mobile/mobile01.html
You can send email from payphones in Japan?!? We try the technology trick that shocked the nation: https://soranews24.com/2019/10/31/you-can-send-email-from-payphones-in-japan-we-try-the-technology-trick-that-shocked-the-nation/
NTT history: https://www.global.ntt/our-history.html
Sharp's awesome-looking Aquos 912SH TV-phone: https://www.techdigest.tv/2007/05/sharps_awesomel.html

We’re back chatting about the early 2000s Nokia “Fashion Phones”! These phones preferenced a positioning of mobile phones as a fashion accessory, or fashion statement, over technological functionality. Following from the first two episodes of the season, Ana and Camila discuss gendered product design and marketing, aesthetic obsolescence, what “retro” really means, and why Nokia may have had an interest in creating these “experimental” designs in the first place.

Join us over at Patreon!
Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research was done by Camila.  Audio editing by Ana.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages).
Interstitial sounds from the Media Archaeology Lab.
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

References:
- Nokia “Distinctly Bold” Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG1JDYUrBUM
- Bramston, Dave, “Basics product design: Idea Searching”, 2008, Bloomsbury Academic
- De Giovanni, Pietro, “Cases of Circular Economy in Practice”, 2022, IGI Global
- Hjorth, Larissa, “Mobile media in the Asia Pacific : gender and the art of being mobile”, Routledge, 2009
- Katz, James E.  and Sugiyama, Satomi, “Mobile Phones as Fashion Statements: The Co-creation of Mobile Communication’s Public Meaning”, 2005
- Shade, Leslie Regan, “Feminizing the Mobile: Gender Scripting of Mobiles in North America”, Continuum, 21:2, 2007, pp. 179-189
- https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail/nokia-7380
- https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail/nokia-7280
- https://www.theregister.com/2006/09/05/nokia_l_amour_collection/ 

Although telephones were instated into the home as a business communication tool, the women of the house soon appropriated the technology for “sociability” - checking in with family and friends, gossiping, chatting and connecting with the community. Ana and Camila aptly chit-chat about how this phenomenon became so pronounced over the years that it shaped the evolution of phones and outlined the ways in which we use phones now.

Join us over at Patreon and follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research and audio editing was done by Ana. Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

References:
Fisher, C. S. 1992. America calling: A social history of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hanson, E. 1995. The telephone and its queerness. In Cruising the performative: Interventions into the representation of ethnicity, na­ tionality, and sexuality, edited by E. A. Case. Bloomington: Indi­ ana University Press.

Moyal, A. 1992. The gendered use of the telephone: An Australian case study. Media, Culture, and Socieh J 14:51-72.

O'Keefe, G., and Sulanowski, B.1995. More than just talk: Uses, gratifications, and the telephone. Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly 72(4):922-933.

Rakow, L. 1992. Gender on the line: Women, the telephone, and community life. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Arafeh, S. 2000. Chapter Five: Women, Telephones, and Subtle Solidarity: A Counternarrative. Counterpoints Journal. Peter Lang AG. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42976096?read-now=1&seq=26#page_scan_tab_contents

Retrowow. 80s mobile phones. https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_collectibles/80s/mobile_phone.html#:~:text=The 8500X had an alphabetic,than the 8000X and 8000S.

Sallyedelstein. 2015. The Telephone and the Housewife. Envisioning The American Dream https://envisioningtheamericandream.com/2015/12/22/the-telephone-and-the-housewife/

We’re back for season 3! Cell phones! Camila and Ana chat about the history of Nokia (the town and the company), the connection between car phones and mobile phones, and 80s naming conventions. They also discuss Gorbachev's famous phonecall on the Nokia-Mobira Cityman—a PR stunt that led to the phone being nicknamed the “Gorba” in Finland.

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer
And Patreon!

Main research for the episode was done by Camila. Ana does our editing.
Big thanks to Darija Medic at the Media Archaeology Lab for recording and mixing our transition music this episode from archived Nokia phones!
Intro/Outro music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)

OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

Research:
- Arthur, Charles, “Nokia's chief executive to staff: 'we are standing on a burning platform'”, The Guardian, 9 Feb 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2011/feb/09/nokia-burning-platform-memo-elop
- Laaksonen, Teemu, "Is this real?" said Mikhail Gorbachev with a Mobira Cityman mobile phone in his hand”, YLE,  6 Dec 2020, https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2020/12/06/onko-tama-todellista-sanoi-mihail-gorbatsov-suomalainen-kannykka-kadessaan
- Lohr, Steve, “Risk Inherited at Finnish Concern”, The New York Times, 29 Dec 1988, https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/29/business/risk-inherited-at-finnish-concern.html
- Montes de Oca, Bernardo, “What Happened To Nokia And How It's Still Alive”, Slidebean, https://slidebean.com/story/what-happened-to-nokia
- Vilpponen, Antti, “Nokia: Finland mourns the demise of its proud tech heritage”, The Guardian, 4 Sep 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/04/nokia-finland-microsoft-startups
- Wingfield, Nick, “Microsoft to Lay Off Thousands, Most From Nokia Unit”, The New York Times, 17 July 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/business/microsoft-to-cut-up-to-18000-jobs.html
- “Microsoft, Nokia, and the burning platform: a final look at the failed Windows Phone alliance”, VentureBeat, https://venturebeat.com/mobile/microsoft-nokia-and-the-burning-platform-a-final-look-at-the-failed-windows-phone-alliance/
- “Portfolio Expansion”, Nokia World, https://nokia-world.com/nokia-history/2/
- “The Nokia Mobira Cityman”, Microsoft Windows Blog, April 2012, https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2012/04/16/back-to-the-1980s-the-legendary-nokia-mobira-cityman-25-yrs-on/
- “Why do the names of Apple's products begin with ‘I’? Know the history of now-iconic letter”, The Economic Times, 24 Dec 2022, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/why-do-the-names-of-apples-products-begin-with-i-know-the-history-of-now-iconic-letter/articleshow/96478120.cms?from=mdr 

The girls talk cricket before launching into the final episode of this Education Computers season! We're heading over to New Zealand and talking about the Poly-1. It's another homegrown micro computer destined for schools and funded by a government program, but this one was crushed by corporate (specifically... Apple) interference. Before its time (and 18 months before the BBC micro), we plot its rise and then its downfall which coincided with some pretty dark moments in recent history.

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Camila. Ana audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

Research:
Poly Preservation Project: http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm
https://collection.motat.nz/objects/22214/computer-poly1
https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/collection/poly1.htm
https://www.creationz.co.nz/kiwinuggets/2007/03/poly-1-educational-computer_07.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20060424190744/http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3645342a28,00.html
http://www.ourdigitalheritage.org/archive/playitagain/the-poly-computer-nzs-purpose-built-school-computer/
https://twitter.com/PulpLibrarian/status/1644453795953246209
http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/papers/2010-5.pdf
http://www.rutherfordjournal.org/article050106.html 

Camila and Ana chat about Canada’s first standardised and purpose-built computer for eduction, the Icon. Prior to launching in 1984, it made promises of a hypertext learning utopia where it simplified lives of both students and teachers. The girls kick off by exploring the definition of failure (after Camila had gone to see the Minitel at the Museum of Failure), and end by discussing the criticisms of top-down government projects that stumped potential hypertext projects.

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Ana who also audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)

OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

References:
- Musuem of Failure, https://museumoffailure.com/
- Wierzbicki, Barbara, “Icon: Canada’s system for schools”, InfoWorld, 7 Nov 1983, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
- UNISYS > Icon, www.old-computers.com, https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=971
- Eckert, Jason, “ Ontario’s Computer: The Burroughs ICON”, 3 Apr 2022, https://jasoneckert.github.io/myblog/icon-computer/

Camila is super excited about a children’s toy computer and then the girls chat about the BBC Computer Literacy Project from the 70s/80s. They discuss the TV programing which brought the need for it to the eyes of parliamentarians, how it built on previous literacy projects which combined TV shows with adult education curriculums, the creation of the BBC Micro computer and BBC Basic, and the state of computers in the mind of the public at the time. Are we in need of a new Computer Literacy Project for the modern age??

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Camila. Ana audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

America Girl tiny computer: https://www.americangirl.com/products/isabel-and-nickis-computer-and-desk-set-for-18-inch-dolls-hnr85 

Research:

- Full BBC Computer Literacy Project archive: https://clp.bbcrewind.co.uk/
- Arthur, Charles. “How the BBC Micro started a computing revolution.” The Guardian, Jan 10, 2012.
- Blyth, Tilly. “Computing for the Masses? Constructing a British Culture of Computing in the Home”. AICT-387, Springer, pp.231-242, 2012, IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
- Blyth, Tilly. “The Legacy of the BBC Micro effecting change in the UK’s cultures of computing.” Nesta, May 2012. https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_legacy_of_bbc_micro.pdf
- “David Bowie predicted in 1999 the impact of the Internet in BBC interview.” Youtube, uploaded by loquenotecuentan, Jan 12, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHcOs7mhfU
- Raspberry Pi Forums, The BBC Computer Literacy Project 2012, https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=3102
- “The BBC Computer Literacy Project | The BBC at 100.” Youtube, uploaded by tnmoc, Dec 16, 2022.

Ana introduces the One Laptop Per Child scheme which auspiciously deployed millions of laptops to children in the Global South between 2005 - 2014. The girls discuss the impacts of the campaign, whether the charismatic idea of “fixing the world” via access to digital literacy actually translated to reality, the issues with constructivism, while analysing Morgan G. Ames’ study in Paraguay from her book “The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child”. They kick things of with chatting about Camila’s online residency and Ana’s street demonstration.

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Ana who also audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)

OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

References:
- Ames, Morgan G., “The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child”, 2019, The MIT Press
- “The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child, By Dr. Morgan G. Ames”, UNC African Studies Center, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCeaQUPaze4
- Robertson, Adi, "OLPC's $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong", 2018, The Verge, https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-where-is-it-now
- “Nicholas Negroponte Interview - One Laptop per Child (OLPC)”, 2007, OLPCFoundation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o97UD78s6iM
- Cortés, Mariana Ludmila, “OLPC Announces Partnership with Zamora Teran Foundation”, Laptop.org, 2015, http://blog.laptop.org/2015/09/03/olpc-announces-partnership-with-zamora-teran-foundation/#.ZAjnmezP3n4

After the girls discuss recent tech-art exhibitions they've seen in New York and London, Camila introduces Ana to some stories about the history of computer eduction in Australian schools. This months episode is a two-for-one! Firstly, we learn about a government plan to develop an especially Australian computer for use in schools with options for networking and for portable 'laptop-style' use. Then we hear about the rise and fall of the 'Microbee' computer—Australia's first home-grown personal computer. This computer, which was designed and manufactured in Australia, controlled a large portion of the primary school computer market not just in Australia but also Scandinavia and Russia, winning contracts over Apple!

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Camila. Ana audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

References:
- Jones, Gemma. “BYTE CLUB - First computer museum for Gosford.” The Daily Telegraph, Jul 30, 2003
- Laing, Gordon. “Microbee.” Personal Computer World, October 2005.
- Laing, Gordon. “Secret of Project Granny Smith.” The Sydney Morning Herald, July 12, 2005.
- “MicroBee - A conversation with Owen Hill.” Youtube, uploaded by State of Electronics, Feb 9, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYNRcn9gg5A
- “Microbee - The Australian Educational Computer of the 80s.” Youtube, uploaded by The Centre for Computing History, Oct 26, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mp52Gb3aDs
- Tatnall, Arthur and Leonard, Ralph. “Purpose-Built Educational Computers in the 1980s: The Australian Experience.” IFIP WG 9.7 International Conference on History of Computing (HC) / Held as Part of World Computer Congress (WCC), Sep 2010, Brisbane, Australia. pp.101-111
- Tatnall, Arthur. “The Australian Educational Computer That Never Was.” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Volume 35, Number 1, January–March 2013, pp. 35-47
- Tatnall, Arthur. “The Beginnings of Government Support for Computers in Schools – The State Computer Education Centre of Victoria in the 1980s.” 12th IFIP International Conference on Human Choice and Computers (HCC), Sep 2016, Salford, United Kingdom. pp.291-302

Virtual Tamil Eelam doesn’t connect itself to a physical label. Instead, it petitions to be recognised as a nation-state by publishing its heritage and cultural histories, diverse news, forums, distinct map designs and symbols, and suggestions for communal activities on websites that date back to the 90s. Ana describes how the Tamils have found creative uses of the web’s varying information dispersal techniques, and the girls chat about how that addresses their national sentiments as autonomous, legitimate and independent.

Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer

Main research for the episode was done by Ana who also audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

References:
- Skawennati, Mikhel Proulx, Dragan Espenschied, “Rhizome Presents: CyberPowWow and Panel Discussion”, December 10 2022, Rhizome, New Museum, New York
- Christopher Kulendran Thomas, “Another World”, ICA, London, October 2022 - January 2023
- Christopher Kulendran Thomas, “New Eelam: Bristol”, in collaboration with Annika Kuhlmann. Installation view at Spike Island, Bristol, 2019
- “Christopher Kulendran Thomas Talk (audio) at the 2017 Verbier Art Summit“, Verbier Art Summit, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIrHCy_2MXc, Published Jan 26 2021
- “Australia puts Tamil Tigers on terrorist list”, Irish Times, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/australia-puts-tamil-tigers-on-terrorist-list-1.408157, Published Dec 21 2001
- “3/ Serendipity”, @BaytAlFann, https://twitter.com/BaytAlFann/status/1604405373011886081, Published Dec 18 2022
- “Spatial conceptions of URLs: Tamil Eelam networks on the World Wide Web”, Jillana Enteen, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444806061944, New Media & Society Journal, 2006
- TamilNet (www.tamilnet.com)
- EelamWeb (www.eelamweb.com)
- Ilankai Tamil Eelam Sangam (www.sangam.org)
- “Tamilnet blocked in Sri Lanka”, https://www.bbc.com/sinhala/news/story/2007/06/070620_tamilnet, BBCSinhala, 2007
- Bruno Latour, “We Have Never Been Modern”, 1993, Harvard University Press
- Banadict Anderson, “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism”, 1991, London, Verso