Ancestors

Toot

Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-26 at 03:37

Folded & assembled proof sheets for Skeuomorph Press’ forthcoming letterpress edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s "A Rant About Technology"—a practicum student created the woodcut illustrations of tech mentioned in the text—I set type for the book & fold-out poster

I’m still tinkering with ink & paper options & deciding about binding—but seeing it come together as a book made my heart leap—I am grateful to Le Guin’s estate for giving us permission to produce these

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Descendants

Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-26 at 03:39

If you’ve never read Le Guin’s "A Rant About 'Technology,'" take 10 minutes to do so—in many ways my whole research & pedagogical philosophy are wrapped up in this short, brilliant text—it’s usually day 1 reading in my classes https://www.ursulakleguin.com/a-rant-about-technology

If you want to ask "How can I get one of these?" all I’ll say is "watch this space." We’ll probably take pre-orders & then produce the books, up to a pre-set limit—I’m still getting the infrastructure in place but will announce here & on Bluesky

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Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-26 at 03:40

Also for those curious, it takes this much type for even such a short text

Why are some pages in larger type than others, Ryan?—were you commenting on which passages are key to interpreting the text?

Yes, sure, of course—but also I realized I was going to run out of "o" if I didn’t do something. A text with so many instances of "technology" throws off the distribution

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Written by Jochen Lingelbach on 2025-01-26 at 08:00

@ryancordell

Great text!

"Technology is the active human interface with the material world."

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Written by I Forget on 2025-01-26 at 21:10

@ryancordell So what I'm hearing here is literally too much technology.

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Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-27 at 00:05

@epilanthanomai 😆

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Written by Moto :rainbowinfinity: on 2025-01-26 at 23:46

@ryancordell @nina_kali_nina Ran out of a specific letter while typesetting?

You’re “out of sorts”!

I just learned the etymology of this idiom yesterday.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=idSZdySZra8

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Written by Nina Kalinina on 2025-01-26 at 23:48

@cmdrmoto could be not related after all: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/out-of-sorts.html

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Written by Moto :rainbowinfinity: on 2025-01-26 at 23:58

@nina_kali_nina Hey! No ruining everything on the Sabbath.

I was supposed to be able to enjoy this as undisputed fact for at least 24 hours …

(Next you’re gonna try and tell me Etaoin Shrdlu wasn’t a real person, aren’t ya)

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Written by Nina Kalinina on 2025-01-27 at 00:16

@cmdrmoto but isn't it awesome to know that if you do some research in the area, you might be able to confirm (or disprove) this?

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Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-27 at 00:05

@cmdrmoto @nina_kali_nina yea that’s one of my favorite bits of letterpress trivia to share with students!

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Written by Canevecchio on 2025-01-27 at 01:18

@cmdrmoto @ryancordell @nina_kali_nina A famous letterpress printer whose shop I was lucky enough to visit once with a mutual friend kindly took time to give me a thorough introduction to and demonstration of his treasured linotype machine and Heidelberg letterpress. I left his shop that day with an enormous respect for the analogue technologies of our ancestors, a respect which remains undiminished to this day.

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Written by jgeorge on 2025-01-27 at 07:47

@ryancordell @nina_kali_nina oh that’s just S-E-X-Y that’s what that is. I have a small letterpress from 1879 and nowhere near enough type to set anything other than maybe a short paragraph on a greeting card or so.

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Written by Leonard Ritter on 2025-01-26 at 11:39

@ryancordell i wish only to correct you in that it does not take 10 minutes to read, more like 3.

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Written by Adam [ 🎹 🥘 🧑‍💻 🏒 ♟️ 💞 ] on 2025-01-26 at 15:31

@lritter @ryancordell don’t leave out the time required for contemplation, reading is not a race

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Written by Leonard Ritter on 2025-01-26 at 15:36

@armurray @ryancordell okay my experience was more like "i hope this is a good take. damn, this is a good take. this is my take! beautifully put! well said! i love her spirit!" basically just me giving standing ovations throughout the rest of the essay. there was nothing to reflect on. i did all that already. (receipt: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@lritter/113395491497720500)

so if you're already on-board, it's 3 minutes or less.

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Written by Walrus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 on 2025-01-26 at 12:23

@ryancordell

Thanks! What a superb rant!

I can make lots of things, including bread, bacon, beer, and computers. Those are all technology...

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Written by Dianora (Diane Bruce) on 2025-01-26 at 14:14

@ryancordell Good piece. I love her writing. I also loved Stanisław Lem writings for the same reasons. He pointed out the human side as well,

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Written by Semi Sentient AI Cooling Water on 2025-01-26 at 14:23

@ryancordell She was just wonderful. Gonna go get some of her books from the library tomorrow as tribute.

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Written by Sarah on 2025-01-26 at 16:04

@ryancordell @elaurian

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Written by Jon Moore on 2025-01-26 at 16:57

@ryancordell Thanks for posting this! I had not read it before and thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

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Written by Jon Moore on 2025-01-26 at 16:57

@ryancordell And always good to be reminded that LeGuin was a badass

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Written by a libi rose on 2025-01-26 at 17:23

@ryancordell glad you plan to have some available because @mediaarchaeologylab is gonna need a couple

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Written by Deb Chachra on 2025-01-26 at 17:44

@ryancordell Also day 1 reading for my STS class, also an opening slide for nearly every talk I give about infrastructure (with Ursula Franklin as the other bookend), and I am definitely watching this space for the letterpress booklet — excited.

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Written by it's B! Cavello 🐝 on 2025-01-26 at 19:03

@ryancordell This is FABULOUS! Thank you for opening my eyes to this work.

I’ve often thought about tech through a lens of accessibility. (I would surely be disabled without my shoes if I were to try to go outside right now!) I’ve been fascinated recently by timekeeping technologies, temperature sensing technologies, and other often invisiblized forms of automation in the domestic sphere as well as ideas about what is “natural.”

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Written by Deb Chachra on 2025-01-29 at 12:59

@b_cavello @ryancordell If you don't yet know it, I highly recommend Sara Hendren's WHAT CAN A BODY DO? which I suspect will speak to you. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561049/what-can-a-body-do-by-sara-hendren/

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Written by Ryan Cordell on 2025-01-30 at 12:55

@debcha @b_cavello thank you for the recommendation!

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Written by sola on 2025-01-26 at 23:18

↑

"Technology is the active human interface with the material world.

But the word is consistently misused to mean only the enormously complex and specialised technologies of the past few decades, supported by massive exploitation both of natural and human resources.

This is not an acceptable use of the word. “Technology” and “hi tech” are not synonymous, and a technology that isn't “hi,” isn’t necessarily '“low” in any meaningful sense."

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Written by Deb Chachra on 2025-01-29 at 13:11

@ryancordell I thought, "I bet I have a photo of myself with that quote" and I do! -- from this 15min conference talk on infrastructure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK6BRwwhgbo

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Written by ragman on 2025-01-30 at 14:06

@ryancordell

This was great, thanks for sharing!

It's incredible how much insight Le Guin could pack into a short blog post.

I miss her and her writing!

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Written by tom jennings on 2025-01-30 at 17:14

@ryancordell

A life long favorite of mine, I'm now old, and every time I read something new about her, it's makes her sound like an even better person than I thought. Not many people I can think of like that.

Samuel R Delany wrote about technology in a similar way. Even his earliest stuff, with spaceships and aliens, is not about spaceships and aliens. He was 20!

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Written by Dr Camilla Hoel on 2025-01-26 at 09:16

@ryancordell I love that! (I want one — also very interested in the binding process for the fold-out!).

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Written by Ronan on 2025-01-26 at 12:22

@ryancordell no notes. Want 😍

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Written by kimu on 2025-01-26 at 16:38

@ryancordell this is beautiful!

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Written by Ruth [☕️ 👩🏻‍💻📚✍🏻🧵🪡🍵] on 2025-01-26 at 16:50

@ryancordell lovely! I once made a very ad hoc zine of her “Space Crone” and sent it to a set of friends.

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Written by Txo!? on 2025-01-26 at 23:46

@ryancordell Amazing!

Would buy one 😌

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Written by James Trickle uP on 2025-01-26 at 23:50

@ryancordell Nice work. Worth a follow. Thank you for creating this fabulous new expression of Ms. Le Guin's work. I'm a long time fan of hers. My brother-in-law was a fine art printmaker and college professor. He loved SF stories. Will also follow you on bsky.

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Written by Dorothea Salo on 2025-01-27 at 19:05

@ryancordell oooooh! preorders? I WANT ONE AND POSSIBLY MANY MORE THAN THAT.

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Written by chris martens on 2025-01-29 at 13:17

@ryancordell gorgeous gorgeous work!!

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Written by Johannes on 2025-01-30 at 07:04

@ryancordell How beautiful! 😍 And now I will imediately read the text … unfortunately digital only.

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