At 12:01 PM -0500 3/11/04, air-l-request@aoir.org wrote:

Message: 5 From: "Mattia Miani" <katanankes@yahoo.com> To: <air-l@aoir.org> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 21:16:56 +0100 Subject: [Air-l] Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #1001 - 8 msgs Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org

Hi all.

Time ago, i believe, someone issued on the list a call for chapters for a book aimed at exploring how forms of new media have failed in the past. An intriguing question. Does anybody know id they came out with the book?

Mattia Miani University of Bologna

Hi Maria, I have no idea who posted that call. There is a dead media database somewhere online, and failure is an ongoing theme in the history of communication technology. For a good theoretical take, check out John Durham Peters _Speaking Into the Air_ and Briankle Chang _Deconstructing Communication_ (especially the last chapter). Otherwise, I'd recommend any of the classic media histories available -- most of them deal at some length with ulternatives and unrealized plans. Charles Acland at Concordia is editing a book called _Residual Media_ (in which I have a chapter on computer obsolescence) and I am working on a book about abject moments in the 20th century history of communication technology (pretty US-centric but not exclusively) -- failure, obsolescence, decline, absurdity. There's also an upcoming conference at a school in Florida (forget which one) on media disasters. Best, --J -- Jonathan Sterne, Assistant Professor Department of Communication, University of Pittsburgh http://www.pitt.edu/~jsterne