Alexis Madrigal - The Mechanics and Meaning of That Ol’ Dial-Up Modem Sound (via thisistheverge)
on a personal level, what i find interesting about this quote is that i remember dial up from being in the homes of my affluent friends after my folks moved us out the hood into the burbs (a burb that quickly became working class sprawl after white flight to the west side of town or other LA outliers). I literally taught myself around/about a computer through high school, junior college and the four year University, because my friends who had the know-how were oddly aversive to skill-shares and I was always too embarrassed to ask for help at the tech desks at the school and local libraries. thinking of that sound reminds me how as poor and working class people of color (outside of individuals and affluent enclaves) we lag behind the technological state of the arts. It also reminds me how most intellectuals rarely speak of the digital divide anymore, as though it has disappeared or been bridged by the smartphone and elmos in the public classroom.
(via theatlantic)
