Increases awareness of human trends in art art behavior... ( )

This book features thematically grouped photographs taken across the world on February 8, 1996, showing how "cyberspace" was affecting people's lives. 11 years later, it's endearing to look back on this day as representative of an early party of our era. What's most interesting about the content is how obvious it all seems now. We take it for granted that people research illnesses, connect with similar individuals, share their thoughts, and collaborate on-line, but each of these was notable enough in 1996 to merit inclusion in this book. The terminology wasn't all there yet (they have a few pages devoted to "online diarists" and a man whose "wireless webcam records his life as it happens", the proto-bloggers and vloggers) but the ideas were.

The photography itself ranges from mundane to sublime, as is to be expected given such a wide range of collaborators. Particular favorites of mine are the American monk converting a document on a clunky laptop, a musician checking his e-mail on the toilet, and a Coptic monk squinting at a laptop screen in the desert.

It explicitly calls itself a time capsule, and I think that sums it up well. It makes me want to go to Flickr and search for all photos taken worldwide today.

(Q) ( )