!ylesicerP --- On Sat, 6/6/09, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> > Subject: [silk] Text tides > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, 6 June, 2009, 7:39 PM > Udhay > > Make of this what you will. > > Forwarded without comment. > > -------- Original Message -------- > Up in the future, the end will be the beginning. > > is the message. > paper becomes an ever more distant memory. The medium > of communication resisting this impetus to invert, as > In the long run, I wouldn't bet against any written form > > the past collects like pixelized sediment ever downward. > is a sort of 'now' horizon. The future drops in from > above; > In this new text world, the 'top' of your screen (or > window) > > this, but I expect them to soon.) > neither Google Wave nor the latest smartphone IM logs do > orientation. (Twitter tools already do; I'm surprised > or IRC client adopts a default newest-messages-on-top > It's only a matter of time before an instant-messenger > > screen-based writing. > all now shifting the expectation of time-ordering in > News websites, blogs, activity streams, twitter -- they > are > > you might review the path that led to now. > latest news, the current state -- and then, if time > allows, > completely supercedes older information. You want the > Also, information decays, and often the newest information > > from nearer/sooner places. > further in the future are upward (towards the horizon) > in time', too. In a journey, the places you will reach > There are 'logical' reasons one would view 'up' as > 'forward > > convention, rather than strict necessity. > Oh, it still did, but now it was a matter of habit and > > writing (and time) to be mapped from top to bottom. > was no longer a *physical* reason for the progress of > But moving to the screen was an important moment. There > > the terminal screen. > That in turn continued into line printers, and then > > the hands/keyboard. > of prior work -- which could not move down under (but up > from) > space for the hands, an insertion point, reviewable log > into the era of the typewriter... one compact device had to > space > These habits of handwriting continued into printing, and > further > > relative orientation of our hands and eyes. > physical writing implements (especially inky implements) > and the > Mapping the flow of time from top to bottom is an artifact > of > > Logically, does it really? > > > A: Because it reverses the logical flow of > conversation. > > Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? > Reese wrote: > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) > ((www.digeratus.com)) > > Cricket on your mind? Visit the ultimate cricket website. Enter http://beta.cricket.yahoo.com
