Artifacts: An Archaeologist's Year in Silicon Valley

297 Pages·2002·1.98 MB·English

by  Christine A. Finn

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CHRISTINE FINN
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The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
First MIT Press paperback edition, 2002
© 2001 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying,
recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in
writing from the publisher.
This book was set in Garamond 3, Futura, and Arial by Graphic
Composition, Inc., Athens, Georgia.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Finn, Christine.
Artifacts : an archaeologist’s year in Silicon Valley / Christine Finn.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-262-06224-0 (hc. : alk. paper), 0-262-56154-9 (pb)
1. Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, Calif.)—Civilization—20th
century. 2. Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, Calif.)—Description
and travel. 3. Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, Calif.)—Social life
and customs—20th century. 4. Material culture—California—Santa
Clara Valley (Santa Clara County) 5. Technological innovations—Social
aspects—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County)
6. Computers—Social aspects—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa
Clara County) 7. Technology and civilization. 8. Finn, Christine—
Journeys—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County)
9. Archaeologists—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara
County)—Biography. I. Title.
F868.S25 F56 2001
979.4′73—dc21 2001030660
Photo credits are found on page 224.
The book is dedicated to pioneers everywhere,
and to those who believe in them.
And to my father, who taught me how to see things.
CONTENTS |
Preface viii
Acknowledgments xv
Photo Essay xvii
The Way to San Jose 2
The Long Then 15
The Other e-word 19
The Fifteen Cities 23
I Remember the Orchards... 32
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A How Arty Is My Valley? 39
L
P Signs and Symbols 49
E
H SiVa–The Concept 57
T
The Demolition Derby 64
Crossing Cultures 80
LE Better to Fail Hopefully... 88
P
O Social Strife 93
E
P Ways of Being 100
E
H Trains and Planes and SUVs 108
T
Dancingladies.com 116
The Early Technology Trail 130
Computer Fieldwork 139
Profile of a Collector 156
H
C Recycling Memory 161
E
T Ghosts in the Machine 171
E
H The Newest New Thing 174
T
Words without Manuals 180
Finding Meaning 188
T
O Foreign Connections 194
H
S Is This It? 204
P
U An Archeological Text 208
E
H Logging Off 211
T
Epilogue 214
Selected Reading 217
Photo Credits 225
Index 231
Afterword 245
PREFACE |
This started out as a book about things and it rapidly became a
book about people—a certain group of people in a particular part
of the world that has no map coordinate, common language or
culture, but a unique commonality in being a mother lode of
technological innovation unlike anywhere else on earth.
The book considers how the population of this enigmatic place
is responding to changes they have initiated, or have had forced
upon them. It looks at lateral connections between parts of the past
and present that matter today to those working and living in the
unique “SiVa” environment, and will matter tomorrow to a wider
audience considering Silicon Valley in the broader scheme of cul-
tural history.
In an essay published in 1942, William F. Ogburn stated: “The
electronic digital computers that perform the seemingly magical
functions of an electrical brain are an extraordinarily complex
invention; yet they may call forth less adjusting than the simple
invention of the wheel.” What is crucial to understanding Silicon
Valley today is not so much the amount of change, but the rate of
change. It seemed to me that one way of examining this was to
apply a combination of perceptions—the eye of a foreigner with
the “what if” probing of the archaeologist. As L.P. Hartley noted,
“the past is a foreign country.” It was a simple enough approach six
months ago, but the rapid escalation of change brought about by
economic uncertainty in the tech industry created a new set of
data. In attempting to make sense of this oscillating SiVa culture,
Iwas in danger of never completing this book. So what I offer is a
series of snapshots, some of which I hope offer up foundation mate-
rial for further, more systematic academic study.
ix | Preface
This is not a book of computer history, which is richly served
already, but it is an attempt to offer an alternative perspective from
a field that seems at odds with high technology and the future. But
technological changes are key in the exploration and evaluation of
ancient societies and artifacts, whether the development of stone
tools, or transportation, or writing. One stage can be viewed as a
precursor to another. And the compounding of these changes, the
ways people respond to increasing complexities, or demands to
“keep up” with technology, is the subject of much deliberation
among sociologists, economists, and anthropologists. Increasingly
archaeologists are also joining the debate, applying the same foren-
sic scrutiny we use to view ancient cultures to the contemporary
world.
In contemporary archaeology, people and things are no longer
viewed as separate entities; things are related to people, and “mate-
rial culture” is a name for things that are understood to be social-
ized, that is, put in a cultural context.
The way we categorize these things is related to the way we use
them, or think about them, and understanding these two processes
is often problematic if the people are no longer around to explain
intention or meaning. Hence the long and heated debates in ar-
chaeology about things classified as “mother goddess” figures, or
“votive offerings”—the quote marks here are not attempting to
make a value judgment, but to suggest a category. And if people
related to these objects were indeed still around, they may not
necessarily speak, or think, the same language—culturally, intel-
lectually, or philosophically—as anthropologists and ethnogra-
phers contend. For example, I do not know if your notion of an
empty glass is the same as mine. If it is half-full (or half-empty)
the problem is compounded.
So, I will not present a thesis on material culture; there are
plenty of highly challenging books already on that. But I was