The technical term for the fact that a product is no longer maintained or needed, even though it may still be usable, is known as obsolescence. Obsolescence occurs in various forms. There is functional obsolescence *** (Functional obsolescence is the reduction of an object's usefulness or desirability because of an outdated design feature that cannot be easily changed or updated. It also refers to outdated technologies, such as an older version of a mobile phone or computer processor.) *** , aesthetic obsolescence *** (When a product is no longer desirable because it has gone out of the popular fashion, its style is obsolete. Although the devices may still be perfectly functional, it is no longer desirable because style trends have moved away from the product. Because of the "fashion cycle", stylistically obsolete products may eventually regain popularity and cease to be obsolete.) *** and planned obsolescence *** (In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life or a purposely frail design, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain pre-determined period of time upon which it decrementally functions or suddenly ceases to function, or might be perceived as unfashionable.) *** . The causes of digital obsolescence are not always purely technical. Capitalist accumulation and consumerism have been identified as the main motivators of digital obsolescence in society. In this context, newly introduced products are often assigned a higher value than older products.
The acceleration of product life cycles is a characteristic of digital media. This makes it even more important to deal with obsolete technology and to take a more sustainable look at our consumer behavior.
Computer technology currently represents the epitome of industrial waste. In order to improve the current state of computer culture and the handling of computer technology criticism, an understanding of the concept of permacomputing *** (Permacomputing is a more sustainable approach to computer and network technology inspired by permaculture. Permacomputing is both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regenerativity in digital technology.) *** should not be overlooked when publishing with obsolete devices. Many of the strands of thought in this concept support the reasons for breathing new life into obsolete equipment. But what is permacomputing anyway?
Permacomputing was inspired by the principles of permaculture *** (Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. Permaculture uses creative design processes based on whole-systems thinking, considering all materials and energies in flow that affect or are affected by proposed changes.) *** and represents the fusion of permaculture with computer technology. The concept as well as the associated community was created to enable a more sustainable approach to computer and network technology.
Permacomputing aims to maximize hardware life and minimize energy consumption. It focuses primarily on using resources that already exist. Technology is harmful to nature and therefore to people. It is necessary to practice a good relationship with the Earth.
We deal with limitations not only in design, but also in fields such as biology and economics, and even in our everyday lives. When publishing with outdated technology, we often run into limitations or can't realize our ideas and concepts as they were originally intended. So why should we celebrate limitations and constraints or even incorporate them into our design and make them visible?
Constraints and limits are another way of opposing technological maximalism. Boundaries and limitations are often seen negatively and technology wants to eliminate them because limitations are contrary to capitalist ideology. Capitalism *** (Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.) *** sells us a "freedom" by removing these limits.
The irony of constraints is that limits can actually create a great amount of diversity. Limitations can be something one enjoys or values as healthy constraints. They can be limitations that are self-imposed or given by external circumstances. The idea of limitation is furthermore resource-saving and environmentally friendly.
Within the process of publishing with obsolete devices, we come up against the question of the aesthetics of our publication.
But how can we translate sustainability and environmental protection into more than just formal aesthetics?
Today's digital aesthetics encourage maximization. We are offered high bandwidth, high resolution, and computing power at any cost.
To be able to do everything anytime, anywhere, we accept huge amounts of
e-waste *** (E-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Informal processing of e-waste can lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution.) ***
and pollution, and the associated social inequality of the people who have to take care of disposing of that pollution.
Those who define this aesthetic look at the world from the perspective of the white western heterosexual male.
A normative standardization is thereby advanced, to which the whole world is supposed to subscribe.
The aesthetic does not reflect any notion of constraints and limitations.
It is the aesthetic that becomes synonymous with
tech demos *** (Tech-Demos are a prototypes, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of showcasing the possible applications, feasibility, performance and method of an idea for a new technology.) ***
that constantly push the boundaries of what is possible.
The aesthetic gives us an image of the future that allows no sign of biology or of life.
This seamless design is fostered by technomaximalist culture.
The maximalist techno-aesthetic has been driven by the myth that eternal growth is okay to enjoy.
We are taught a world in which numbers increase and resources seem infinite.
This is not a healthy long-term view.
It is very important to fight in order to escape this fate. There are three factors we can consider when publishing with obsolete devices to counteract this.
1. Keep it small
Small systems have lower hardware and power requirements and are easier to understand, use and reuse.
2. Keep it simple
Low complexity is beautiful and in the ideal case can be fully understood by a single person.
3. Be flexible
Reuse systems, which can be used for a variety of purposes, including those for which it was not primarily designed.
When we reach for our obsolete devices, should it be the inner child that we associate with the souvenir of our past? Or the retro aesthetic that makes us reminisce?
Consumerism *** (Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.) ***
defines part of our identity.
Our relationship to time is difficult to decouple from consumption, because the relationship to time is not ours.
It is constantly determined by industries and economic cycles.
Our ever-shortening attention span favors a productive apparatus that encourages obsolescence and neophilia.
The use of obsolete items becomes nostalgic because they have exhausted their time of economic value.
Retro computers and retro aesthetics restore nostalgia because they enable a connection with the past
self through objects of mass consumption.
Retro-nostalgia pursues the intention of creating a safe space for the imitation of lost youth.
However, this is a trap.
Retro-nostalgia instead promotes a deeply conservative thinking that romanticizes the past.
This prevents the problematization of what was already then a defective computer culture.
It should be about seeing computing devices as tools just waiting to be rediscovered and repurposed. A much more useful concept than nostalgia is the concept of post-digital aesthetics. *** (Like the computer age, the post-digital is also a paradigm. It tries to describe the possibilities to explore consequences of the digital and the computer age nowadays.) *** It describes the entry into a new phase where there is a new form of communication between new and old media, competition between them becomes irrelevant, and attempts are made to resist the exploitation of energies, natural resources, and the ecosystem.
It should not be about nostalgia, but about showing a problematic and worrying socio-cultural regression.
Publishing with obsolete devices contributes to a more sustainable use of computer technology and thus establishes a good relationship with our planet.
Behind every interaction with computer culture are computational efforts.
This is not innocent.
Each of these efforts also has an energetic footnote.
This describes what kind of additional resources were set in motion to get to that point.
We just don't see it because it's hidden and far from the side of execution.
Publishing with obsolete equipment also works against the consumerism promoted by
capitalism and the industrial waste associated with it.
It is important to include limitations and constraints in the aesthetics of the publication and to ask what is already available and what could be reused. As long as a device works, there is no reason to stop using it. The publication should emerge from working with the immediate environment and end up being a long-lasting object.