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Since the dawn of time: A Series

Essays on technology, psycho­analysis, philosophy, design, ideology & Slavoj Žižek
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Appreciation

June 4, 2011

Since the dawn of time: A Series

Many products and services are created in the world these days. Almost all of them are so profound and revolutionary that they can only truly be understood when viewed against their proper time scale: the history of humanity, or perhaps the universe itself. As a humble chronicler of these world-historic events, I offer these examples:

Google Wallet:

In the past few thousand years, the way we pay has changed just three times—from coins, to paper money, to plastic cards.

Now we’re on the brink of the next big shift.

Web video:

In early human history, hand axes counted as a big idea. But back then, even the best of big ideas took a long time to spread. Axes might have been first used about 2.5 million years ago, but it took another 1.8 million years to settle on a standard shape…

Now, humanity finds itself on the threshold of another revolution in the way ideas are spread, one that allows direct instruction wherever you are in the world.