Kalyani Tupkary

Cultures observing both linear and cyclic concepts of time see the past as something we have put behind us and the future as something that lies before us.

The widespread adoption of the ‘desktop’ metaphor underscored that early personal computers would become workplace technologies.

While historical texts have long been subject to critical analysis, the formal and historical problems posed by graphic representations of time have largely been ignored. This is no small matter: graphic representation is among our most important tools for organizing information.*

Put another way, who stands outside for hours, gazing at a starflower instead of a Samsung Galaxy? When you’re stalking a hawkweed at daybreak, time is an afterthought.

In  The Fabric of Interface , Stephen Monteiro argues that our everyday digital practice has taken on traits common to textile and needlecraft culture. Our smart phones and tablets use some of the same skills—manual dexterity, pattern making, and linking—required by the handloom, the needlepoint hoop, and the lap-sized quilting frame. Monteiro