Technology is messy and complex. Thomas P. Hughes, a historian of technology, has called it, simply, “a means to change the landscape.” We like that definition. It’s appealingly simple. In the following pages, we ponder technology — what it means to us, how it intersects with our lives, sometimes in the most subtle ways, sometimes in loud and messy ways. Our particular take on technology ranges from the very micro (TV, science fiction, simulation games) to the very macro (oil, canals, development).

We’re not in the business of having a position about things-technological — either celebrating its democratic promise (laptop fetishism) or damning its horrors (for we live in post-post-surveillance times). In these pages, we raise some simple questions, and, as ever, keep our heads down. The best stuff is always in the details.