Mastodawn

There was a time when the Internet came in the mail.

This newest episode of Found in the Machine is about the woman behind AOLs carpet bombing strategy and what happened next 🎙️

https://foundinthemachine.com/episodes/10-america-on-hold-how-the-internet-arrived/

#internethistory #techhistory

America on Hold: How the Internet Arrived

She was a copywriter turned marketer who watched focus groups attempt to use computers. She knew the internet wasn't a product you could sell. You needed to give people a way in. Her name was Jan Brandt, and she decided to mail it to them.In this episodeJan Brandt: The architect of America Online's carpet bombing strategy that put a billion discs in American handsOmaha Steaks, airlines, and grocery stores: how the discs became inescapableA 150-pound throne and a museum case: What happened to the AOL discs that didn't go in the trashThe digital divide: The people who got left behindEpisode MusicJames Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0There's Garbage in the Mariana TrenchMorality CentreHemiteleiaWhere There is No DarknessAdditional ReadingMcCullough, B. (2014, August). She gave the world a billion AOL CDs: An interview with marketing legend Jan Brandt [Podcast episode]. Internet History Podcast. https://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2014/08/she-gave-the-world-a-billion-aol-cds-an-interview-with-marketing-legend-jan-brandt/National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (n.d.). Data Central. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.ntia.gov/topics/data-centralRamo, J. C. (1997, September 22). How AOL lost the battles but won the war. Time. https://time.com/archive/6731455/how-aol-lost-the-battles-but-won-the-war/Smithsonian Institution. (n.d.). America Online (AOL) disc [Object record, NMAH catalog no. 2010.3015.05]. National Museum of American History. https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_1395721 Support the showFound in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also sign up to receive Notes from the Machine with each episode.You can support the show and independent booksellers by purchasing from the show's bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/foundinthemachine.

Daina May 21

I launched a companion newsletter to Found in the Machine.
Notes from the Machine: scripts, cut content, sources, and a note from me with each episode. For listeners who want to go further than the audio.
notes.foundinthemachine.com

Daina May 18

Found in the Machine now has a bookshop on Bookshop.org! A Computing History list with books on the hidden labor behind the field, the pioneers who got written out, and the cultural history of computing.
Supports indie bookstores across the US and the podcast (affiliate). 🌟
https://bookshop.org/shop/foundinthemachine
#historyofcomputing #podcast #indieBookstore

Daina May 12

The Apollo Guidance Computer's memory had to be woven. Wire by wire, through rings smaller than shirt buttons, by women whose names never made it into NASA's reports. The computer also needed integrated circuits. Those were built by Navajo women who were deemed well-suited to the task given their "innate" rug weaving skills.
The newest episode of Found in the Machine is about the weavers. 🧵🌕 https://foundinthemachine.com/episodes/9-the-weavers-memory-and-the-moon/

Daina May 11

My podcast has a new name. Lore in the Machine is now Found in the Machine. Same show, same stories about hidden histories in computing. Better name.

foundinthemachine.com

New episode drops tomorrow

Daina Apr 28

Newest episode of Lore in the Machine is about the CAPTCHA. But it's really about what happens when the Turing Test flips. And what we were unknowingly building while we squinted at blurry letters. https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/8-i-m-not-a-robot-the-internet-s-human-test/

Daina Apr 16

NVIDIA's most powerful AI chip is named after a Cold War mathematician most people have never heard of. That story is episode 7 of Lore in the Machine https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/7-the-silent-duel-david-blackwell-and-the-math-inside-ai/

Daina Mar 31

Four times a year, strangers fly to a secure facility, enter a metal cage inside a signal-proof room, and turn keys in unison to keep the internet from being poisoned. The DNSSEC Root Key Signing Ceremony has over 100 scripted steps, a self-destructing lockbox, and a laptop with no hard drive, no battery, and no memory of its own.
New episode of Lore in the Machine 🎧
loreinthemachine.com/episodes/6-a-ritual-to-secure-the-internet
#infosec #DNSSEC #cybersecurity #podcast #techhistory

Daina Mar 3

Lore in the Machine is live! Four podcast episodes are up. Ep1 asks why programmers say 'foo'. The answer involves a very strange comic strip from the 1930s, a WWII radar operator, and more model trains than you'd expect. New episodes every other week https://loreinthemachine.com/ #computing #history #techhistory

Lore in the Machine

Stories from Beyond the Screen. A podcast about the hidden histories and surprising origins woven into computing culture, hosted by Daina Bouquin.

Daina Feb 24

Devs type "foo" but few know it comes from a 1930s comic strip. I've been collecting stories like this for ages without knowing what to do with them. So I made a show. Lore in the Machine tells the strange stories behind the tools we use every day. Trailer is up. Hope you enjoy: https://loreinthemachine.com/