The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Etc.

2d:null 2e:["$","title",null,{"children":"Considering Texts | Nabil Kashyap | Observable"}] 33:T5cd,md` ![Mac Classic Desktop](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/desktop.gif) The interface and its predominant metaphors (page, file, folder, desktop, etc.) encapsulate and describe machine processes for human ends. They are certainly tied up in the economic and military histories of digital computing, in a certain sense culminating in [Engelbart's 1968 "Mother of All Demos"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos). You might even recognize earlier threads. New geographically and temporally sprawling organizations attempting to operate at unprecedented scales--think railroad industry, telegraph networks and other artifacts of Victorian industrialization--needed new ways of organizing people and information. What were often informal, certainly homegrown information management practices in turn solidified into many of the tools of information management we recognize today. (For a more thorough discussion, you might check out [this wonderful article by JoAnne Yates](https://www.zotero.org/groups/2224126/liblab/items/TDC8TUNW/file)). [![Picture of Abraham Lincoln's Desk](https://www.officemuseum.com/Lincolns_Desk_Springfield_IL_1880s_photo_OM.JPG)](https://www.officemuseum.com/desks.htm) How do these references to physical practices map on to the steps actually taken by the machine? When any step can be replaced by an intermediary abstracted process, what work happens when you try to figure out what is "actually" happening? `34:[] 31:{"id":"c8c9e5bebed97c2a","slug":"considering-text","title":"Considering Texts","thumbnail":"a886ca5af298f9d0a6deef844f37b5e84835013b342a213692a9ff02265b6cbe","access_level":"public","create_time":"$D2019-10-03T19:52:12.696Z","update_time":"$D2019-12-06T17:05:31.712Z","view_time":null,"first_public_time":"$D2019-10-03T21:07:44.409Z","has_unpublished_edits":null,"fork":false,"stars":3,"starred":false,"owner":{"type":"team","id":"92032f850a4679ab","login":"bulbil","name":"Nabil Kashyap","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/d9e8d262f1076187594d379710a3a83a646393d004ed9faaffc35a85a0f4f9ce","tier":"starter_2024"},"version":98,"publish_version":98,"role":null,"authored":false,"authors":[{"type":"individual","id":"72aca3ddc200afbc","login":"bulbil","name":"Nabil Kashyap","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/d9e8d262f1076187594d379710a3a83a646393d004ed9faaffc35a85a0f4f9ce","tier":null}],"members":[{"type":"individual","id":"72aca3ddc200afbc","login":"bulbil","name":"Nabil Kashyap","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/d9e8d262f1076187594d379710a3a83a646393d004ed9faaffc35a85a0f4f9ce","tier":null,"role":"editor"}],"comments":[],"custom_thumbnail":false,"trashed":false,"lapsed":null,"subscribed":null,"forks":5,"collection":{"id":"19933efcb70be790","slug":"lib-lab-2019","title":"Lib/Lab 2019","owner":{"id":"92032f850a4679ab","login":"bulbil","name":"Nabil Kashyap"}},"type":"notebook","body":{"title":"Considering Texts","cells":[{"id":0,"value":"md`# Considering Texts`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":5,"value":"$33","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":27,"value":"md`\n\n## So what is (electronic) text? \n
\n### encoding\n\n> \\`The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Etc.\\`\n

\n\n### or markup\n\n> \\`The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Etc.\\`\n

\n\n### or image data\n\n> ![crusoe title](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/p-1-head.jpg)\n\n### or just math\n\n> ![crusoe title](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/Artboard%201.svg)\n\n`","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":70,"value":"md`\n## What is plain text?\n\n* characters as encoded by a standard scheme (nothing but)\n* machine and human readable\n* sustainable\n* platform independent\n\n## What is *not*?\n\n![microsoft word logo](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/Word2011.jpg)\n`","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":76,"value":"md`\n## Markup\n\n* systematic way of annotating document parts for humans *and* machines\n* indicating presentation / procedure / description\n\n![humanis victus instramenta](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/Unknown_engraver_-_Humani_Victus_Instrumenta_-_Ars_Coquinaria_-_WGA23954.jpg)\n\n---\n\n## And Markdown?\n\n* a minimal (almost) markup language[^6]\n* very little redundancy\n* the world could fall apart and you could still read it\n* wildly flexible in terms of platforms/formats\n\n![markdown logo](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-static/static-assets/Markdown-mark.svg.png)\n`","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":85,"value":"md`\n## Further Resources\n\n### Getting Started\n- [GitHub Guide: Mastering Markdown](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/)\n- [HTML Dog: Examples](https://htmldog.com/examples/)\n\n### References\n- [HTML Dog: Tags](https://htmldog.com/references/html/tags/)\n- [HTML Dog: CSS Properties](https://htmldog.com/references/css/properties/)\n- [HTML Reference from Mozilla Developer Network](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference)\n- [CSS Reference from Mozilla Developer Network](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference)\n- [*Companion Site for How to Design and Write Web Pages Today, 2nd ed.*](https://webpg.es/)\n- [Much more than you ever wanted to know about encoding text](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2003/10/08/the-absolute-minimum-every-software-developer-absolutely-positively-must-know-about-unicode-and-character-sets-no-excuses/)\n\n\n`","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":9,"value":"html`\n

Inline Styles ↓

\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W34","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}} 32:"$31:body"