IBM, Holocaust

[Carvill John]

While we're on tech, I wonder did anybody share my mild surprise at how readily the mainstream media, in the wake of the Snowden revelations, swallowed govt explanations about 'metadata', including their assertion that, for example, which phone numbers I dialled on a given day are just 'metadata' whereas 'content' would only refer to what I said on those phone calls. It all struck me as a somewhat wide interpretation of 'metadata', given the context.


From: montedavis at verizon.net
To: johncarvill at hotmail.com; lorentzen at hotmail.de; pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: RE: IBM, Holocaust
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2013 13:40:04 -0400

[repost]Agreed. The IG Farben, Shell and GE of Gravity’s Rainbow are in between the WWII “merchants of death” (Krupp, Vickers, DuPont et al) and the aerospace-centric military-industrial complex of the 1960s and 1970s … which have given ground in turn to the predominantly IT villains – or scapegoats -- of today. Tangentially: as a former science writer, I’ve noticed that at the NY Times and quite a few other newspapers, IT has essentially taken over the sections labeled “Technology.”  Coverage of all other technologies -- mechanical, electrical (and non-IT electronic), chemical, materials-science, biotechology, etc -- when it appears, is in the business section, or when applicable in "environmental" coverage. In practice, that means any technology news that isn’t IT and doesn’t [yet] have major business or environmental implications is a hard sell in editorial conferences.  Now, I’ve made much of my living writing about business computing, and have been thoroughly addicted to personal IT since an Eagle CP/M machine in 1979, but that still strikes me as tunnel vision.   From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of Carvill John
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 9:27 AM
To: Monte Davis; lorentzen at hotmail.de; pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: RE: IBM, Holocaust >For me, the enabling role of IT (and IBM) in the Holocaust simply doesn't stand out from the enabling roles of many other technologies and many other corporations.  I would suggest that you also need to factor in a consideration of how those particular technologies (and technology companies) have accelerated and grown, in terms of their role in society, between WWII and today. There is often greater focus on their roles due to today's tech-centric world - understandably so.   		 	   		  
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