but as @jeffjarvis also shows, those same histories show it takes time & experimentation to understand what a new technology will actually change & what guardrails we need to create around it—there are zero cases where we fully understood a new medium & could manage it from the outset, because a medium’s eventual shape is completely opaque in the moment of its creation—a primary reason to study these histories is to learn to evaluate our own shifts *slightly* more efficiently

@ryancordell
Thank you, yes. I feel as if you've already read my upcoming book. ;-)

@jeffjarvis I often describe my classes as "a history of technological moral panics" so this is territory I explore quite a lot!

@ryancordell
Well, that starts to the next book I'm starting to write now. I'd love to see you syllabi and readings, if you're willing.